Questions about purchasing DVC

[disneylover81]

Yes, resale takes months. That really doesn't matter in the bigger discussion IMO.

The cool thing about SSR in particular is that there are so many contracts and so much changing hands. It has a pretty clear market value. You buy a loaded contract with extra points, those points cover your next trip. In most contracts, you don't pay dues on previous year points, which flips the math. Buy in is relatively low, and it's easy enough to sell, maybe by undercutting the other guy for a couple bucks. For a 100 point contract, not a huge deal. Even if you are out closing costs and the 9%-ish sales commission, a good buy with banked points makes it worth it for me.

There are many DVC brokers, the board sponsor is the largest. As a seller, I wouldn't use one than doesn't focus on DVC. As a buyer, I have talked to three different brokers, and Facebook (private sale) with a title agent from Mason.

The resale timeframe is fine, I’m trying to talk the hubby into a quick October/November trip, but so far he’s not giving in. My daughter and I might have to go without him. If I do buy resale and have closed in a couple months, I’d love to use my points, just not sure what kind of MK inventory will be available, because that will be super last minute. We might would have to stay in a whole different area, which I guess would be ok too since it’s just a short trip.

I see what you mean. I definitely would want a loaded contract. I saw some on resale with no banked points for 21, 22, or 23!

 

[kboo]

Consider that even if you buy resale now and everything happens quickly, you won't have points in your account to use until August at best. So aim for early 2023 and hope you can snag something last minute, but don't count on it. I'm still stalking/WL a reservation for my sister in August because she decided last month she wanted to join us. within 4 months, there's some nights here and there, but it's not great.

 

[disneylover81]

Unpopular opinion here I know but the problem with purely SAP is that you might not be happy if you travel at popular times and can’t get the 7m reservation you want. We have some legacy SAP but we use them as supplemental (eg DS wanted to go to Cali). If we were to redo our entire portfolio of points now I would definitely have made some different choices.

Bottom line - if you buy SSR just because it’s cheap know that you are competing with everyone else with cheap points looking for upgrades. It might be a lot less stressful to pay a bit more and know that you have more options at the 11m mark.

We are going through this now with our Jan 2023 trip and it stinks.

So if you buy in at your favorite resort for the 11m booking and make a reservation, but also have cheaper SSR points available, then you can change and use your cheaper points if you do see something you want at the 7m mark and save your 11m points? Hopefully that made sense.

We tend to travel April-July. My son wants to travel when it’s not so hot outside like October-February. I really don’t care when we go, as long as I get to go. My 16 year old daughter will be a senior this coming school year so at least for now, we do have to consider her school schedule if she plans on coming with us. Then we will have her college schedule after that.

I hope you find what you are looking for on your next trip.

 

[disneylover81]

Once you are an owner, you will be able to buy as a current member when sales start, regardless of association.

But, any resale points bought today will be excluded if it is. IMO, I’d assume the worst and buy resale only if you are okay with those points not being eligible for stays.

You make a good point.

 

[RoseGold]

So if you buy in at your favorite resort for the 11m booking and make a reservation, but also have cheaper SSR points available, then you can change and use your cheaper points if you do see something you want at the 7m mark and save your 11m points? Hopefully that made sense.

No, or everyone would do this. You can't even modify the reservation to add a day. You have to make a whole different one for the extra day and then combine.

Unpopular opinion here I know but the problem with purely SAP is that you might not be happy if you travel at popular times and can’t get the 7m reservation you want.

OP is traveling in summer in high point value rooms, this won't be a problem. Heck, there are some nights on these rooms for this July, just over a month away. Poly in the summer will be no problem at all.

OP could rent points and do VGF2 now.

 

[disneylover81]

Then the blue card discounts are not necessary for you! We managed to keep our APs through the pandemic, so it was a good savings for us. But with dining discounts at 10-20% that's a whole lotta food and merch (and you have some discounts already) to even break even compared to a direct sale.

LOL. I highly recommend a 3-yo birthday trip. Even if they turn 3 on the trip, they start as a 2yo and pay 2yo prices for tickets and buffets. (i.e. $0) And they get lots of birthday wishes and songs. It's pretty magical. One thing with DVC is that it made our trips more relaxing because we knew we'd be back. So we felt better about taking breaks, napping, spending a day at the pool, etc.

Yes! And you could probably break up a 150 point contract into 2x75 or 3x50 which also makes them easier to sell at a premium.

This is why I thought that maybe a BLT resale would be a decent compromise. At worst, you are "stuck" in a BLT studio or have a shorter time in a 1br. A contract with banked points could hold you over until you see if Poly2 will work for you. And if you want to get into Riviera and cannot wait until your direct purchase, can try renting some points.

(ETA: A loaded AKV contract might be good too, but OP said she liked MK area best, and buses and strollers are hard. Haven't checked prices lately but might be worth it)

Once the AP sales return, I will for sure want a direct contract. That’s a pretty big incentive for me buying direct to begin with. The dining discounts are nice now too, but we’ve always been a dining plan family, whether it’s a good financial decision or not, it was just better to prepay for our meals and not have to worry about it anymore.

I actually told my son to wait until he was 3, but he wanted to bring him for his 2nd birthday. I just told him they had to be on the baby’s schedule and take naps and breaks and leave the parks before closing if he was ready for bed. We were there for 8 days and they got to ride everything and do everything they wanted, except for thunder mountain railroad. But like I told them, they’d be back many times over the next many years so it was ok to miss that one. My hubby and I on the other hand, got to ride that one 4 times during that trip.

Do you mean buying direct 75x2 or 50x3 contracts?

I’m not really upset about not staying at RIV. I like that it’s new and on the skyliner, but we stopped there for a drink and my hubby wasn’t impressed with anything except the bar by the pool area. I think the rooms are nice from videos I’ve seen. Maybe one day, we might just stay there and give it a chance after we buy direct

I’m wondering if I just need to buy 2 resale now, one at VGF or BLT and another at SSR…

 

[disneylover81]

Consider that even if you buy resale now and everything happens quickly, you won't have points in your account to use until August at best. So aim for early 2023 and hope you can snag something last minute, but don't count on it. I'm still stalking/WL a reservation for my sister in August because she decided last month she wanted to join us. within 4 months, there's some nights here and there, but it's not great.

Gotcha. At least I know if I am going to buy resale, I don’t feel the need to make such a rush decision by the 6/1 expiration on direct incentives. I can relax and take another couple weeks.

 

[disneylover81]

No, or everyone would do this. You can't even modify the reservation to add a day. You have to make a whole different one for the extra day and then combine.

OP is traveling in summer in high point value rooms, this won't be a problem. Heck, there are some nights on these rooms for this July, just over a month away.

OP could rent points and do VGF2 now.

That’s good to know.

I’m glad to know there is availability in July right now. I’m so worried about making the wrong decision since this is such a big purchase. But I’m glad to know if I don’t like what I decide, I can always sell and try again for something better.

 

[bakerworld]

My 2 cents: buy how you want, where you want and with the full understanding that the DVC membership is 'locking in' the room cost only. Tickets, transportation (airfare/gasoline) and food are all a significant cost of a Disney vacation that DVC doesn't control or give much help in the way of discounts. Ways can be found to mitigate all of the non-room costs but in the end they all cost more than the room.

We joined DVC in our 50's. We joined for us. While others moan about the cost of Disney increasing tickets and Genie+, we still enjoy the atmosphere. We're now in our mid-60's and we tend to veer towards SSR because we're becoming less park directed and more resort focused. We just took our nucellar family which included our 2 GC's and I have to admit I doubt we'll do that again. They can go on their own with us picking up the tab.

 

[Sandisw]

The resale timeframe is fine, I’m trying to talk the hubby into a quick October/November trip, but so far he’s not giving in. My daughter and I might have to go without him. If I do buy resale and have closed in a couple months, I’d love to use my points, just not sure what kind of MK inventory will be available, because that will be super last minute. We might would have to stay in a whole different area, which I guess would be ok too since it’s just a short trip.

I see what you mean. I definitely would want a loaded contract. I saw some on resale with no banked points for 21, 22, or 23!

Fall is pretty booked up already because it’s the busiest DVC time. And, at 60 days DVC can take inventory and offer it to cash guests.

So, if going the resale route, assume August at the earliest for points and I wouldn’t count on being able to use, even at the big three ar that point.

The only exception could be the new resort studios if more are declared before them or they don’t get booked up.

I still subscribe to the notion to buy a home resort you want to be at..or at least don’t mind..if you can’t trade out at 7 months, whether it is direct or resale because I can tell you booking has changed a lot in tue past 5 years on what can be booked within 7 months.

For VGF, given all the extra points being added to the resort tied to resort studios, those larger villas could prove very difficult for non owners at 7 months.

But, BLT is certainly another good option but will spend a lot more for direct so resale seems to be a better financial decision as long as you are okay to be locked out of RIV and potentially Poly tower with those points.

Good luck!

 

[sndral]

…
I’ve thought on it all night after everyone’s great advice and opinions and I think as long as I know I wouldn’t have any trouble booking at a MK resort at 7 months, I’m totally fine with a cheaper higher point resale purchase at SSR. I do love GF best, but I would be fine with any other, I just like to be close to MK. Even CCV would probably suit me fine. We are big fans of WL and the boat ride to MK also. It seems resale VGF is about $175+/point. So a little savings, but not tons. OKW & SSR range from $100-$150. Then I see some BLT and Poly for around $160.
…

Here’s the thing - you may have trouble booking at an MK resort at 7 months w/ SSR points if you want to avoid the hot summer months & are working around your 16 yo dd’s high school & future college schedules & in 3 years you’ll be working around your grandson’s school schedule as well.
SSR points are the cheapest on the resale market for a reason - it’s the largest resort, a lot of people own there & use them as SAP points & they compete w/ each other to get into harder to book resorts at 7 months. Do a search here on DIS for “DVC availability“ to get a sense for how easy/hard/frustrating it will be to switch to more popular resorts at 7 months paying particular attention to posts by those who have owned for a long time & have prepandemic booking experience. It’s a strategy that can work if you go at less popular times, are flexible with your schedule, villa size & view, are ok w/ split stays, & enjoy the thrill of the hunt for a ‘better’ resort, & are ok w/ staying at your home resort if you can’t find something else.
I personally have little experience w/ switching at 7 months - I did it once & it was a challenge, I had to switch dates & do a split stay & I was looking for ‘easy’ 1 br.s.
I’m in the buy we’re you want to stay camp, because I have strong feelings about where I want to stay & because the cost to make sure I’ll get what I want in the villa size & view I want when I want to go is worth it to me. Others are more flexible and care less about where they stay. I liken it to buying a new car - my brother cares about what kind of new care he drives - so he owns a Mercedes, I don’t - so I own a new Subaru.
While buy cheap & try the system out is a great strategy if you don’t know where you want to stay & are ok w/ staying at the resort you buy when you can’t book elsewhere. The math is different if you know where you want to stay & if you want to stay there during high/moderate demand times.
Let’s assume you really want to stay at VGF but can buy resale SSR for $130 & VGF for $170. You elect to save $40 per point and buy SSR to try DVC out. 2 years later you decide you really want to own VGF because you are having trouble booking stays at VGF when you want in the villa size & view you want w/ those SSR points because the craziness of the last couple of years is over, borrowing restrictions are gone, & ‘normal’ booking behavior has returned. Meanwhile the resale market has gone up 20%. So your resale SSR points are now worth $156 minus the 10% sales commission & taxes owed on your gain, ignoring the taxes, you’ll net around $140.4 per point. Meanwhile resale VGF points will now cost you 20% more - $208 - so you’ll need to add an additional $67.6 in cash over your SSR sale proceeds which is $27 a point more than that additional $40 you could have bought VGF resale for originally.
You also decide you now want direct points because APs & other benefits are back. If you’d bought VGF2 now you’d pay $207, but 2 years later VGF2 is sold out & you can’t buy there (which happened w/ VGF1) or you can but at the ridiculously high sold out resort price, but you can buy Poly2 - which now cost 20% more than VGF2 direct costs now - so $207 + $41.4 = $248.4. You’ll need to add $108 to your $140.4 SSR proceeds to buy your new direct points at Poly2 v. the $77 more than SSR resale you’d pay if you bought VGF direct now. & you didn’t wait 3 months to get your resale points - you got your direct points immediately & booked your welcome home trip at VGF in a resort studio for this fall.

 

[RoseGold]

You also decide you now want direct points because APs & other benefits are back. If you’d bought VGF2 now you’d pay $207, but 2 years later VGF2 is sold out & you can’t buy there (which happened w/ VGF1) or you can but at the ridiculously high sold out resort price, but you can buy Poly2 - which now cost 20% more than VGF2 direct costs now - so $207 + $41.4 = $248.4. You’ll need to add $108 to your $140.4 SSR proceeds to buy your new direct points at Poly2 v. the $77 more than SSR resale you’d pay if you bought VGF direct now. & you didn’t wait 3 months to get your resale points - you got your direct points immediately & booked your welcome home trip at VGF in a resort studio for this fall.

I don't view VGF2 and Poly2 as equivalent products. VGF2 is a fast flip of a really old building that had to be flipped anyway. It will have mostly mediocre views. I'd take Poly lake view over VGF2 theme park view. Poly2 will be brand new with prime views, and who know what they will do with the roof.

If OP loves VGF, then yes, by all means go for it. And do it now! But I think Poly2 ticks her boxes better, as a hotel snob. Brand new building, multiple room types, views, pool. Buying VGF direct is a big commitment, so you better know you mean it. Actually, BLT might tick the boxes better, except for the pool. That view is the best in the system.

I love VGF, I own VGF, I would never buy Poly2. But I think Poly2 might be the answer for OP.

 

[disneylover81]

My 2 cents: buy how you want, where you want and with the full understanding that the DVC membership is 'locking in' the room cost only. Tickets, transportation (airfare/gasoline) and food are all a significant cost of a Disney vacation that DVC doesn't control or give much help in the way of discounts. Ways can be found to mitigate all of the non-room costs but in the end they all cost more than the room.

We joined DVC in our 50's. We joined for us. While others moan about the cost of Disney increasing tickets and Genie+, we still enjoy the atmosphere. We're now in our mid-60's and we tend to veer towards SSR because we're becoming less park directed and more resort focused. We just took our nucellar family which included our 2 GC's and I have to admit I doubt we'll do that again. They can go on their own with us picking up the tab.

You are correct ! DVC is only a fraction of the cost of a Disney trip. I never moan about the cost because it’s my choice to keep going and paying whatever it costs. I like it there and it makes me happy to be there so I will pay whatever they charge until I don’t like it anymore.
It doesn’t sound like that last trip was too enjoyable for y’all !

 

[disneylover81]

Fall is pretty booked up already because it’s the busiest DVC time. And, at 60 days DVC can take inventory and offer it to cash guests.

So, if going the resale route, assume August at the earliest for points and I wouldn’t count on being able to use, even at the big three ar that point.

The only exception could be the new resort studios if more are declared before them or they don’t get booked up.

I still subscribe to the notion to buy a home resort you want to be at..or at least don’t mind..if you can’t trade out at 7 months, whether it is direct or resale because I can tell you booking has changed a lot in tue past 5 years on what can be booked within 7 months.

For VGF, given all the extra points being added to the resort tied to resort studios, those larger villas could prove very difficult for non owners at 7 months.

But, BLT is certainly another good option but will spend a lot more for direct so resale seems to be a better financial decision as long as you are okay to be locked out of RIV and potentially Poly tower with those points.

Good luck!

I don’t know why we never go in the fall .. well I do know.. it’s because I like to go for my birthday, which is in mid-July. I think I could make a change. I really don’t care when we go as long as we are going ! I would even go all by myself if no one wanted to come with me.

I still tend to lean toward VGF, but that BLT idea has me thinking also…I know me well enough to know that if I don’t get to book at a MK resort when I’m ready to go on a trip, I’m not going to be a happy camper. I gave it a shot last month at GDT and I hated it the whole time. I’ve decided on either of those two resale to start with depending on what I find, plus maybe try to find an SSR on the side for a good deal and just try my luck booking at 7m until I get all the ends and outs figured out after being an official owner.

Y’all have been so helpful and I appreciate it so much!!

 

[sndral]

Good luck - if you’re going resale, it’s time to start hanging out in this thread https://www.disboards.com/threads/r...ost-for-instructions-formatting-tool.3878357/

 

[disneylover81]

Here’s the thing - you may have trouble booking at an MK resort at 7 months w/ SSR points if you want to avoid the hot summer months & are working around your 16 yo dd’s high school & future college schedules & in 3 years you’ll be working around your grandson’s school schedule as well.
SSR points are the cheapest on the resale market for a reason - it’s the largest resort, a lot of people own there & use them as SAP points & they compete w/ each other to get into harder to book resorts at 7 months. Do a search here on DIS for “DVC availability“ to get a sense for how easy/hard/frustrating it will be to switch to more popular resorts at 7 months paying particular attention to posts by those who have owned for a long time & have prepandemic booking experience. It’s a strategy that can work if you go at less popular times, are flexible with your schedule, villa size & view, are ok w/ split stays, & enjoy the thrill of the hunt for a ‘better’ resort, & are ok w/ staying at your home resort if you can’t find something else.
I personally have little experience w/ switching at 7 months - I did it once & it was a challenge, I had to switch dates & do a split stay & I was looking for ‘easy’ 1 br.s.
I’m in the buy we’re you want to stay camp, because I have strong feelings about where I want to stay & because the cost to make sure I’ll get what I want in the villa size & view I want when I want to go is worth it to me. Others are more flexible and care less about where they stay. I liken it to buying a new car - my brother cares about what kind of new care he drives - so he owns a Mercedes, I don’t - so I own a new Subaru.
While buy cheap & try the system out is a great strategy if you don’t know where you want to stay & are ok w/ staying at the resort you buy when you can’t book elsewhere. The math is different if you know where you want to stay & if you want to stay there during high/moderate demand times.
Let’s assume you really want to stay at VGF but can buy resale SSR for $130 & VGF for $170. You elect to save $40 per point and buy SSR to try DVC out. 2 years later you decide you really want to own VGF because you are having trouble booking stays at VGF when you want in the villa size & view you want w/ those SSR points because the craziness of the last couple of years is over, borrowing restrictions are gone, & ‘normal’ booking behavior has returned. Meanwhile the resale market has gone up 20%. So your resale SSR points are now worth $156 minus the 10% sales commission & taxes owed on your gain, ignoring the taxes, you’ll net around $140.4 per point. Meanwhile resale VGF points will now cost you 20% more - $208 - so you’ll need to add an additional $67.6 in cash over your SSR sale proceeds which is $27 a point more than that additional $40 you could have bought VGF resale for originally.
You also decide you now want direct points because APs & other benefits are back. If you’d bought VGF2 now you’d pay $207, but 2 years later VGF2 is sold out & you can’t buy there (which happened w/ VGF1) or you can but at the ridiculously high sold out resort price, but you can buy Poly2 - which now cost 20% more than VGF2 direct costs now - so $207 + $41.4 = $248.4. You’ll need to add $108 to your $140.4 SSR proceeds to buy your new direct points at Poly2 v. the $77 more than SSR resale you’d pay if you bought VGF direct now. & you didn’t wait 3 months to get your resale points - you got your direct points immediately & booked your welcome home trip at VGF in a resort studio for this fall.

Wow! You speak my language and make so much sense to me. I have pretty strong feelings about where I want to stay too..not necessarily an exact resort, but for sure in the MK area since that’s where I like to spend most of my time. I understand your car analogy.. I care about what car I drive like your brother, but it’s just got to be a black on black Yukon Denali, not a Mercedes or anything like that.

After everyone’s great advice and wisdom, I had just decided to buy either VGF or BLT so I knew I could stay at either one of those for sure at 11m. But then was I was toying with the idea of buying SSR also just so see how it goes at 7m booking for me at the places I want to stay, knowing that I could always sell it if I wasn’t impressed.

I appreciate you taking so much time to give me lots of things to think about.

 

[bakerworld]

You are correct ! DVC is only a fraction of the cost of a Disney trip. I never moan about the cost because it’s my choice to keep going and paying whatever it costs. I like it there and it makes me happy to be there so I will pay whatever they charge until I don’t like it anymore.
It doesn’t sound like that last trip was too enjoyable for y’all !

Admit, I do miss FP+ and I've yet to try my hand at Genie+ because of the upcharge but I do love the atmosphere, the different themed resorts, restaurants and parks. I'm not a fan of Florida summers but we're going this weekend and for a week over July 4, which is made easier by being a DVC member and having an AP. I factor Annual Dues and AP renewal in the same category I put Insurances and Taxes - LOL - Pay it and Forget it. Then all year long I grab some available space, pop for airfare and off we go. When the AP wasn't for sale, we'd enjoy the resort, ramble around the Springs and pop for a 1D park ticket. Back in the day MK was our focus but now its Epcot WS followed by HS, with the rides taking a back seat to the scenery.

 

[bakerworld]

Wow! You speak my language and make so much sense to me. I have pretty strong feelings about where I want to stay too..not necessarily an exact resort, but for sure in the MK area since that’s where I like to spend most of my time. I understand your car analogy.. I care about what car I drive like your brother, but it’s just got to be a black on black Yukon Denali, not a Mercedes or anything like that.

After everyone’s great advice and wisdom, I had just decided to buy either VGF or BLT so I knew I could stay at either one of those for sure at 11m. But then was I was toying with the idea of buying SSR also just so see how it goes at 7m booking for me at the places I want to stay, knowing that I could always sell it if I wasn’t impressed.

I appreciate you taking so much time to give me lots of things to think about.

Easiest places to find availability at 4 or 5 months in our experience are SSR, OKW, AK, and BLT. Hardest places to find at 7 month window is VGF (never been able to string more than 2 nights there and DH doesn't like split stays), Rivera, CCV, Bolder creek, Polynesian, Beach Club, and Boardwalk.

 

[disneylover81]

I just wanted to follow up on my purchase decision …. After lots of researching and talking with all of you experts and weighing all my options… I ended up purchasing 175 points direct VGF on Friday. I’m super excited and have my first 2 DVC trips booked, the first one is a 1 Bedroom preferred in September at SSR (due to short notice and limited availability everywhere) and my next one in May at VGF in a resort studio room. I’m sure I will eventually catch the “Add-on-itis” that I was warned about, but for now I’m going to be happy with what I have !!

 

[DL1WDW2]

Welcome Home…
Villa Grand Floridian is first class all the way and you are too for remembering to let us , your new friends, know.
I will be even happier when you post another update all about the day you arrive for your first visit .
Theres no place like a DVC Home !