Purchasing strategy

[supercarrie]

EDIT: update in a post below but we are now going through ROFR on a 100pt BLT contract to start! Still planning on a direct purchase as well (likely Poly 2.0)

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After years of mulling it over and passing up purchasing, my husband and I are at the point where we are ready to make a decision on our purchase. With the background below, how would you buy in?

-Family of 3 (husband, wife, 7 year old)
-live in CA, about 15 mins from Disneyland
-vacation at WDW typically once a year (spring or late fall) for a week at a time with trips to Aulani every few years (replacing WDW)
-preference is 1 bedroom unit over studio but are flexible on this
-paying cash
-strongly considering buying direct w/ a minimum 150 points. Why? the DL lounge would be used during DL visits (several times a month), we'd use VDH for occasional last minute trips if the availability is there, and plan to hold onto purchase past 2042. We'd also be able to take advantage of Moonlight Magic each year due to being DL locals (I know this perk can and will change).

I'm thinking we need a minimum of ~220-230 points total looking at point charts.

Would you:
-purchase 150 points at Riviera, resale of ~80 points at SSR, AKL, CCV?
-purchase all resale and use cash for VDH stays (giving up the lounge and other direct benefits?)
-purchase small resale contract now and plan to purchase Poly 2.0 direct? (The Poly is one of our favorite WDW resorts.)
-purchase direct contract at SSR?

Or some other plan not listed?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

 

[intamin]

Hrmm feels somewhat similar to my situation.

My family lives about 15 minutes from DL. If you want to use the lounge and especially book VDH you definitely would want to buy direct.

Based on what you're telling me, it doesn't sound like you have a strong affinity for Riviera and it's more of a just because it's on sale you're interested. I don't advise people to buy Riviera if they don't love the resort because of the resale restrictions. You'd be better off buying Polynesian direct once it comes online. We love Riviera and have over 300 points there but if that's not the primary resort you want to stay at then don't buy there.

Personally the strategy I'd do right now is to purchase a cheap resale 100-150 pt Aulani contract so that way you have access at 11 months during the most coveted times of the year (summer) and then purchase a 150-200 point Polynesian contract once that goes on sale. This way you get to choose your use year and you'll receive current member discounts which are typically better than the discounts for new members. You can try and use the Polynesian points at VDH last minute although last minute availability will be somewhat sketchy, it doesn't sound like you'd be booking those nights 7-11 months in advance anyways so home booking priority wouldn't really matter but you'll have access regardless to Riviera and VDH through your polynesian points.

Alternatively, you can choose another resale contract at WDW to replace Aulani if you want home resort priority somewhere else on property. I personally diversify based on location. There's really not another option in the Epcot area besides Riviera if you want the contract to last past 2042 and as much as I love the resort, resale restrictions are a thing. (Edit: Meant to specify I would buy direct Riviera if that is what you decided to replace Aulani with, not resale Riviera because of the limitation of only being able to use the points at RIV).That being said if you're planning to keep it for over 20 years, I guarantee Riviera resale will be worth more than BC/BW resale in 2042. If you really like the MK area you could consider VGF/BLT but I don't really like having my home resorts right next to each other so IDK. Having the majority of your points at Poly you'd be able to guarantee your annual WDW trip and also the Aulani trips every few years. If you decide you don't want to go to Hawaii you can always flex the Aulani points to WDW and use at SSR, AKV or whereever is still available at 7 months. If you go during the summer it should be easy to even get a 1BR at BW/BC with those points.

Poly and Aulani are both point heavy resorts. In order to get a full week in either for a 1BR I'd aim closer to 300 points minimum. Ideally 350+ but yeah. Hope this helps!

 

[disneyfan123]

I'd purchase a smaller CCV resale contract now (100ish points), as the contract length is the best of the non-restricted resorts (although you won't be able to use those points at RIV or VDH) and wait until Poly 2.0 goes on sale and get your direct points then. You probably won't have to wait that long for the direct points and you will get a better price on them being a current owner.

 

[Jlo85]

I agree with the prior poster of starting with a resale Aulani contract. I'd start with maybe 150-160 points and then add-on another one. You can get ~300 Aulani points for the same price as 150 direct points at RIV or VDH.

Depending on if DVC moves to a trust, you will probably get the opportunity to 'upgrade' a resale Aulani contract to direct. My guess is that will be cheaper than paying the premium now.

 

[AstroBlasters]

+1 for Aulani resale first and then Poly2 pre-sale…..

More Points = More Room Options

 

[jolynne28]

I agree with the prior poster of starting with a resale Aulani contract. I'd start with maybe 150-160 points and then add-on another one. You can get ~300 Aulani points for the same price as 150 direct points at RIV or VDH.

Depending on if DVC moves to a trust, you will probably get the opportunity to 'upgrade' a resale Aulani contract to direct. My guess is that will be cheaper than paying the premium now.

Can you elaborate on

Depending on if DVC moves to a trust, you will probably get the opportunity to 'upgrade' a resale Aulani contract to direct. My guess is that will be cheaper than paying the premium now.

We are looking at resale right now to start, but have thought we would want to add on direct later on, assuming the right circumstances/price, for the benefits and no restrictions on resort booking. Are you saying that all resale contracts at some point may have the option to 'upgrade' to direct via the trust?

 

[Hubalorian]

I would not bet on the “upgrade” through the trust. That is purely speculative and could be 5-10 years down the road if they ever come. I would personally recommend buying direct and getting the lounge access since you are so close to DL.

The cabins at fort wilderness documents were released and they will be apart of the trust in full. A trust works completely differently than the current DVC model. If home resort priority is important to you at WDW, Riveria may be the last chance to have a deeded membership with an 11 month advantage window.

If you don’t love Riv or just like staying at any DVC resort then a trust product may benefit for you if you are flexible where you want to stay

 

[PolyRob]

I would not bet on the “upgrade” through the trust. That is purely speculative and could be 5-10 years down the road if they ever come. I would personally recommend buying direct and getting the lounge access since you are so close to DL.

The cabins at fort wilderness documents were released and they will be apart of the trust in full. A trust works completely differently than the current DVC model. If home resort priority is important to you at WDW, Riveria may be the last chance to have a deeded membership with an 11 month advantage window.

If you don’t love Riv or just like staying at any DVC resort then a trust product may benefit for you if you are flexible where you want to stay

I agree, there is a lot of speculation about declared units and what can actually go into the Trust. Fractured units consisting of floating points does not equate to other timeshare developers shoving fixed weeks into a Trust.

@supercarrie I would personally wait for more information on the Poly Tower and the Trust. If you want direct benefits and the option to stay in a 1-bedroom at Poly Tower annually you will need more than 150 points. Outside of peak seasons, Aulani should be easier to reserve than Poly. If the Trust consists of unsold Aulani, DLH, and possibly all of Poly Tower it may be extremely enticing given your location and vacation habits.

 

[supercarrie]

Thanks for all the thoughts so far! I'm intrigued (in both a positive and negative way) by the trust concept. Could be great, if the right inventory is in the trust, as @PolyRob has suggested, but could also be not so hot.

For now, my husband and I are also looking into resale, either Aulani or CCV. I'm coincidentally going to be in WDW next week and haven't been to WL in years, so will take a look at CCV in person if we can. I also need to spend some more time at Riviera. The high point charts for it really threw me.

 

[DVC Doctor]

Would you:
-purchase 150 points at Riviera, resale of ~80 points at SSR, AKL, CCV?

nope

-purchase all resale and use cash for VDH stays (giving up the lounge and other direct benefits?)

Good option for people that prefer WDW over DL, but you may benefit from buying DL tower direct

-purchase small resale contract now and plan to purchase Poly 2.0 direct? (The Poly is one of our favorite WDW resorts.)

Probably the best idea as it gets you in the game and you can transfer points into your account

-purchase direct contract at SSR?

nope

Or some other plan not listed?

Think about waiting 6 months or so to see what Poly 2 sells for
Think about buying the new DL tower
Aulani is an interesting idea, only if you really love that resort and plan to visit often. HGVC or Marriott may be better options for Hawaii

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

If VDH sales have slowed down, it’s possible you’ll be able to get it closer to Riviera soon, so I wouldn’t rush to buy RIV direct unless you really love it. My guess is that VDH may ultimately be like VGC where it’s extremely hard to get at 7m, even if you have direct points elsewhere (as someone who lives within an easy drive of Disneyland, I can’t bring myself to buy either because we don’t plan our DLR trips more than 7m in advance and home resort advantage is useless).

If you go to Disneyland multiple times a month, I think you may be surprised how quickly a $20-30/pt difference for direct pays for itself between discounted dining, discounted merch, and free beverages in the member lounge. We recently returned from 10 days between WDW and DCL and saved around $500 between dining, souvenirs, special tours, and a fireworks cruise discount. We don’t normally save that much each trip, but it does add up over time (for the first 150 points, anyway).

 

[supercarrie]

Just an update - after taking the advice from posters above, we completely rethought our resale strategy. We had an offer accepted on a nicely priced 100 point BLT contract today and are planning on buying another 150 direct, but waiting for more info on Poly or a better round of incentives. Thanks again to everyone who provided thoughts! We took a hard look and realized we need ~250 and not the 220-230 originally planned for. (And may even need closer to 300 at some point.)

100 points will get us "in the game" for now and hopefully the current member discount on Poly 2.0 will be somewhat attractive. I am mentally preparing for Poly 2.0 to be incredibly expensive, though. And then we'll have a decision to make on what the direct benefits actually mean to us.

Now let's hope ROFR doesn't heat up!

 

[bdrex28]

I have a question on something.

But I see everyone say purchase Poly 2.0. I'm not sure I understand. Wouldn't you just purchase Poly now and it would also be useable for the new tower? Or, am I missing something and the thought is because buying Direct they would open up Poly as a direct new purchase?

Thanks for the clarification!

 

[Genie+]

Just an update - after taking the advice from posters above, we completely rethought our resale strategy. We had an offer accepted on a nicely priced 100 point BLT contract today and are planning on buying another 150 direct, but waiting for more info on Poly or a better round of incentives. Thanks again to everyone who provided thoughts! We took a hard look and realized we need ~250 and not the 220-230 originally planned for. (And may even need closer to 300 at some point.)

100 points will get us "in the game" for now and hopefully the current member discount on Poly 2.0 will be somewhat attractive. I am mentally preparing for Poly 2.0 to be incredibly expensive, though. And then we'll have a decision to make on what the direct benefits actually mean to us.

Now let's hope ROFR doesn't heat up!

Goodluck! I just now read your opening post from early Jan and my first thought was some resale then waiting to see direct Poly2 or great incentives.

There’s many advantages to starting with resale. First off you’re likely to save more on direct since usually have better incentives for existing members (resale members included!). Second, it’s much easier to have direct match your UY than buy direct first and have to find specific UY resale. Third, experience may help your end goal DVC decisions, by seeing what is personally most important to your family.

 

[Spivey378]

1. Resale
2. Direct
3. ???
4. Profit

 

[Mai Ku Tiki]

I have a question on something.

But I see everyone say purchase Poly 2.0. I'm not sure I understand. Wouldn't you just purchase Poly now and it would also be useable for the new tower? Or, am I missing something and the thought is because buying Direct they would open up Poly as a direct new purchase?

Thanks for the clarification!

There are several long threads here about how points for the new Poly Tower may be sold & allowed to be used. Nothing in stone yet, but it's worth a look-see before making the decision either way.
Search Poly Tower or Poly 2.0 ....Also consider following Moderator Sandisw who is very well-informed.

 

[supercarrie]

I have a question on something.

But I see everyone say purchase Poly 2.0. I'm not sure I understand. Wouldn't you just purchase Poly now and it would also be useable for the new tower? Or, am I missing something and the thought is because buying Direct they would open up Poly as a direct new purchase?

Thanks for the clarification!

There are several long threads here about how points for the new Poly Tower may be sold & allowed to be used. Nothing in stone yet, but it's worth a look-see before making the decision either way.
Search Poly Tower or Poly 2.0 ....Also consider following Moderator Sandisw who is very well-informed.

Poly 1.0 (direct) now is wildly expensive - $250/pt with no incentives. Poly 1.0 (resale) is also quite expensive. As Mai Ku Tiki said, although it seems likely you'll be able to use Poly 1.0 (resale) points at the new tower, nothing is confirmed in writing yet. We are a 1 bedroom family (for most trips) so buying Poly 1.0 points (resale) that can't be used at the new tower doesn't make sense for us.

We also are 99% certain we want the direct benefits. We are banking that Poly 2.0 will have incentives bringing it below $250 a point, but that's obviously a gamble. If Poly 2.0 direct ended up somehow above $250/point and no incentives, as much as I love Poly, I'd likely pass and instead buy Aulani or Riviera direct. I don't want to think about that, though.

 

[davidhr]

Poly 1.0 (direct) now is wildly expensive - $250/pt with no incentives. Poly 1.0 (resale) is also quite expensive. As Mai Ku Tiki said, although it seems likely you'll be able to use Poly 1.0 (resale) points at the new tower, nothing is confirmed in writing yet. We are a 1 bedroom family (for most trips) so buying Poly 1.0 points (resale) that can't be used at the new tower doesn't make sense for us.

We also are 99% certain we want the direct benefits. We are banking that Poly 2.0 will have incentives bringing it below $250 a point, but that's obviously a gamble. If Poly 2.0 direct ended up somehow above $250/point and no incentives, as much as I love Poly, I'd likely pass and instead buy Aulani or Riviera direct. I don't want to think about that, though.

The likelihood of Poly 2.0 having incentives to bring the price around $200 is very high unless there are significant delays.

The big bet is buying Poly 1.0 resale with the intention to use the points at the new tower. Right now it seems that it’s a bet that will pay out, but in my opinion is an unnecessary risk with the current prices.

 

[skier_pete]

My feeling is if you are mostly travelling to Florida, with only an occasional stay at DLR, I would go with the direct contract in Florida. Suggest a minimum point contract for benefits (150 points) or maybe slightly more if it covers it, and buy any more points you want through resale to save yourself some $$$.

If you are not that keen on Riviera and love the Poly. Be patient. Poly will likely be on-sale in the next 4-6 months. (They are still saying opening in 2024.) It would not be surprising if it's going to be about 300 points for a week at a Poly 1-bedroom, so you could pick up a 150-200 point contract on the resale market to make up the difference. Sure resale isn't cheap, but you would still likely save $7000+ doing it this way.

As far as Aulani - unlike others, I would say UNLESS you want to go to Aulani between Memorial Day and July 15th OR for Christmas season, you shouldn't have to buy there. You can use the two contracts above to book there. Or if you find you don't have enough points look at a 100-point add on in the future. DO NOT buy Aulani direct, whatever you do.

 

[supercarrie]

The likelihood of Poly 2.0 having incentives to bring the price around $200 is very high unless there are significant delays.

The big bet is buying Poly 1.0 resale with the intention to use the points at the new tower. Right now it seems that it’s a bet that will pay out, but in my opinion is an unnecessary risk with the current prices.

I would expect that, too. My husband skews more conservative than me (in terms of financial decisions/gambles) and he wasn't as keen on banking on resale right now. He also liked the idea of having a second home resort.

We'll probably end up banking or borrowing the 150 contract to do a 6 night Poly trip every other year at ~300 points, with the 100 point BLT contract also banked/borrowed giving us 200 to play with for a 6 night stay on the off years somewhere else. Until I can convince him to add more points, that is!