Riviera points can only be used at Riviera?

Restrictions are a way to increase the value of buying direct and increase direct sales.

I have issues with this sentence.
The resale restrictions have not added any value to direct sales. Actually, they have taken away something, the possibility to resell the same product one has bought.

The result is the same, resale is worth less than direct. but direct buyers don't get something more valuable, they get something less valuable than before.
 
But, is this the case for most people? I would wager that the majority of people would want an exit plan. Not great to think about, but if DW and I were hit by a bus tomorrow, it would sure be nice for our DD to get out of it if she didn't want it. It's one of the things that made DVC unique among timeshares (along with rental potential).

DVD is just changing the product that they have sold for the past 30 or so years. Only time will tell if it is the right decision or not, I suspect that many new buyers may not care. Those of us that have been around longer probably care more.
I’m been around 17 years, not sure if that puts me in the “around longer“ category, however, what Do you define as most people? Are you speculating, or pontificating ?

there are 220,000 DVC members, how many did you discuss this with?

based on nothing other than a SWAG,
I would wager, that the exit plan of most would fall into;
a. Keep using it,
b. Give it away,
C. to just walk away, if there points had no value….
d. Rent them

i don’t honestly see any DVC resort having no value, but if I’m wrong I will gladly take away unwanted points

realistically, most people will break even somewhere between 5 and 12 years, depend on the value you want to place on the points used…. After that time frame, any recouped capital is a bonus ….
 
I’m been around 17 years, not sure if that puts me in the “around longer“ category, however, what Do you define as most people? Are you speculating, or pontificating ?

there are 220,000 DVC members, how many did you discuss this with?

based on nothing other than a SWAG,
I would wager, that the exit plan of most would fall into;
a. Keep using it,
b. Give it away,
C. to just walk away, if there points had no value….
d. Rent them

i don’t honestly see any DVC resort having no value, but if I’m wrong I will gladly take away unwanted points

realistically, most people will break even somewhere between 5 and 12 years, depend on the value you want to place on the points used…. After that time frame, any recouped capital is a bonus ….
I discussed with the same amount of people that you did :) (I would have thought the "I would wager" would have indicated speculation, but I digress).

Not to be Devil's Advocate, but if that were the case, then there wouldn't be any resales at all, and yet, here we are with what has been a pretty vibrant resale market.
 
I discussed with the same amount of people that you did :) (I would have thought the "I would wager" would have indicated speculation, but I digress).

Not to be Devil's Advocate, but if that were the case, then there wouldn't be any resales at all, and yet, here we are with what has been a pretty vibrant resale market.
No need to play Devil’s advocate, I have an attorney…..

and Yes, resale market has been really good….. and like any other real estate it will ebb and flow….
next time money is free, you will find it return…..
as things work out new buys will place a value on restricted points.
these buyers will buy Riviera based on the value of what DVC has to offer, not just being able to go on vacation and sell from a profit…

Most likely these buyers will love Riviera and buy never wanting to sell….

I would buy 1000 to 1200 points at Riviera with resale restricts at 100 / point…. I enjoy Riviera, I'm in my 40s, and my kids are between 8 and 23 …. Lots of use left in those points…

there will always be a resale market….
‘today it is not the get rich quick scheme it has been over the last 10 to 15 years …..
when the economy turns around, I would expect DVC to do the same ….

‘if not I would gladly use those points until I’m that grumpy old guy running into people on my scooter….
 

No need to play Devil’s advocate, I have an attorney…..

and Yes, resale market has been really good….. and like any other real estate it will ebb and flow….
next time money is free, you will find it return…..
as things work out new buys will place a value on restricted points.
these buyers will buy Riviera based on the value of what DVC has to offer, not just being able to go on vacation and sell from a profit…

Most likely these buyers will love Riviera and buy never wanting to sell….

I would buy 1000 to 1200 points at Riviera with resale restricts at 100 / point…. I enjoy Riviera, I'm in my 40s, and my kids are between 8 and 23 …. Lots of use left in those points…

there will always be a resale market….
‘today it is not the get rich quick scheme it has been over the last 10 to 15 years …..
when the economy turns around, I would expect DVC to do the same ….

‘if not I would gladly use those points until I’m that grumpy old guy running into people on my scooter….
Well, I'd agree with you on a lot of this, especially as not to think of resale as a "get rich quick" scheme. I don't think of it that way, but I do appreciate the fact that I can currently get out if needed and not take a huge financial beating. It will all wash out in the end as the market for resale prices everything in, so it will be interesting to see what all happens. (As an aside, we don't plan to sell any of our contracts either, but... you never know...)

As to RIV resale, I suppose if one just loves RIV (I am indifferent to it, honestly), then I could see a resale there working, but for me, if I were looking at a new resale contract and I could buy the RIV that only gets me RIV, or, I could buy, say, SSR that also gives me access to something like Aulani, I'm taking the SSR contract all day long...
 
not taking a huge financial beating is kinda subjective, please explain what you think would be a fair exit?

when you buy a new car you take a 30 percent hit driving the car off the lot.

in my first trip to Riviera i recouped more than HALF of my purchase cost….
i purchased at 180 a point, and received the prior years points a 20 dollar value…. For free

if i sold right now at 90 dollars per point I would technically recoup all of my cost….

by your standard is 90 a point fair or did I take a beating
 
not taking a huge financial beating is kinda subjective, please explain what you think would be a fair exit?

when you buy a new car you take a 30 percent hit driving the car off the lot.

in my first trip to Riviera i recouped more than HALF of my purchase cost….
i purchased at 180 a point, and received the prior years points a 20 dollar value…. For free

if i sold right now at 90 dollars per point I would technically recoup all of my cost….

by your standard is 90 a point fair or did I take a beating
Prior year points for free? I suspect you mean you received current points and you paid the pro-rated dues on them which are based on calendar year not on use year. DVC implies or even says they are free but that's marketing. Actual free points have been given as Developer points but I can't recall that promotion happening for at least a decade.

DVC is also not a car with typical use depreciation. I guess you could argue DVC does but not in the same way. Instead the person who buys direct stays in the exact same room for the exact same number of points as a direct buyer. And as we clearly saw any benefits of actual monetary value can disappear and it isn't even DVC's call on it.

Then the question if you didn't own DVC would you have paid full rack rate to stay at Riviera assuming that's what you compared to state you recouped 1/2 your purchase price in 1 trip. DVC has never had a payback with those #'s so something sounds off.

And I think you'd be amazed the number of people they sell to that learned DVC exists while on vacation and then learned all about it at the sales presentation just before signing the contract. That is the majority of people they sell to quite similar to most timeshare sales.
 
not taking a huge financial beating is kinda subjective, please explain what you think would be a fair exit?

when you buy a new car you take a 30 percent hit driving the car off the lot.

in my first trip to Riviera i recouped more than HALF of my purchase cost….
i purchased at 180 a point, and received the prior years points a 20 dollar value…. For free

if i sold right now at 90 dollars per point I would technically recoup all of my cost….

by your standard is 90 a point fair or did I take a beating
I bought GFV for $145 a point. I would say that if you could get anywhere close to that, I'd consider it wonderful in the world of timeshares. I would have gotten 10 years just vacationing on dues. In your example, you are considering having one year vacationing solely on dues. But, your points weren't "free". You paid for the points, so you would just amortize them differently, so in essence, you didn't really pay the $180 a point, it was some re-amortized value.

What is a beating, however? I suppose that is in the eye of the beholder. What do you consider a beating? That's going to depend on everyone's value assessment which will be highly personalized to the individual. Getting back to your car example, if it depreciated 50% off the lot versus 30% off the lot, would it change your value proposition on the car and perhaps make you look for a late model used car?

(As a sidenote, I didn't buy at $145 "a point". I like to think of point cost as the actual cost for each specific point. In this case, it was $145 per point for 50 years. So, if you purchased "100 points", what you've really done is purchase 5,000 points over the life of the contract. So for that "100 point" purchase at $145 per "point", then you are looking at a true cost of $14,500/5,000 or $2.90 per point that you use. Using that, with 40 years left on the contract, around $116 "a point" would even recoup your initial purchase, allowing for the usage over that 10 year period)
 
I’ve seen the stat ‘only 1% of owners sell each year’. If true then restrictions might have less impact than it seems. At the average rate sell-off of 1%/yr, 70% of current RIV owners will still be holding in 2050. Maybe this is what DVC is counting on… the majority of direct owners are going to hold for decades. They’ll happily get full use the whole time and if they sell decades down the road, inflation will help offset the perceived difference between buy-in and sell price. $100pp in 2050 might feel ok. Restrictions and purchase could feel like ancient history.

Restrictions would make me think twice before purchasing direct anymore (or resale outside of the O14).

Made me think twice! It’s a big reason why we chose to buy VGF direct. If RIV was the only option we’d probably pass. Resale restrictions also added value to VGF direct in my mind. The ability to book new resorts might be meaningful over 4 decades. We bought expecting to exit ~20yrs but - if my kids keep it then restrictions will never matter. So if a restricted resort came along that we absolutely LOVED (Poly2?), maybe I’d be tempted.

I agree that restrictions were created out of taken something away from others. DVD has to survive. How do they keep selling direct as more and more resale comes to market? How can they make money in times when DVC market is temporarily saturated? Restrictions can help them. Possibly it doesn’t impact the whole landscape as much as we think because the sell-off of all these new restricted resorts will be drawn out over decades.

The only people walking away feeling negativity are the few short term RIV owners. It’ll be a decade before that group grows with owners from other new restricted resorts. Maybe it just kind of fizzles between happy DVC picking up cheap one resort contracts and whatever changes DVD makes for washing points.
 
I have issues with this sentence.
The resale restrictions have not added any value to direct sales. Actually, they have taken away something, the possibility to resell the same product one has bought.

The result is the same, resale is worth less than direct. but direct buyers don't get something more valuable, they get something less valuable than before.
I get it. Restrictions created value out of thin air… by taking away something elsewhere.

But as a new buyer in 2023, restrictions increased the value of my direct purchase over resale. I might have negotiated a VGF resale and saved $1k but beside not getting blue card we would also not be able to book new resorts. I’ve watched availability as RIV and VGF opened and there seems to be a temporary sweet spot where new owners aren’t booking yet and 7 month window is open. It’d be nice to try brand new resorts over the decades. Also when 2042 rolls around we might have a much easier time finding something fun at 7 months than if we were locked out of new resorts with resale.

I can’t roll back the clock and buy the better value DVC deal. Must choose from today. In that way restrictions add value to direct. I may have even bought resale if restrictions didn’t exist.
 
I bought my first DVC in the Great Recession, direct. I bought Disney for 3 reasons:
1. Flexibility to stay at all the different resorts
2. Ability to accommodate a child with a disability in a way no other place had
3. Great price and incentives and a viable exit plan via the resale market if things changed.

Th only sure thing in life is change. I’d never make that kind of investment without an exit plan if needed. I got out of college during what was at the time the worst recession ever, and bought DVC during a recession that was even worse. Those times are always a reminder to me when it comes to money. I would not buy RIV with the restrictions, and so my latest contract was resale.

Am I worried I won’t be able to stay at the ‘new builds’ with my resale points. Nope. Can use my direct points that came with a good exit plan. For the few times I need more points than that for a stay at a ‘new build’, I can always rent them. But I didn’t like RIV at all when I visited it either. Nothing against those who love it, just doubt I’d want to stay there.
 
With that logic, you'd buy direct even if the prevailing resale value was $100, $70, or $40 per point. And if you keep it until 2070 it probably doesn't matter because it expires worthless anyway.

But the average DVC owner holds on to the ownership about 7 years? And if after 5-7 years (or 10 days) they lose $100/point they will have paid close to around $25 to $30/point/year after adding in the $8.5/point dues, which grow annually. Clearly those owners would have been better off renting over that time. That scenario is a lot less likely to happen to those who bought VGF at $161. That's why, to me, the delta between direct and prevailing/expected resale always matters. You never know when you'll want (or need) to sell...

I bet many people do not buy DVC worry g about or even knowing about the resale market

We here on the boards are a minority. The data regarding selling is that of those who did sell, they have owned 7 to 10 years…but that isn’t the same as owners only keeping that short time. For example, if 5% of DVC owners sell contracts, out of those owners only, they have owned that short time.

But I have always believed that resale value should not be part of the equation when deciding to buy. Too many variables in play that can influence it.

We still have no clear idea, once RIV, or future restricted resorts sell out, where the resale number will fall.

If in 10 years, RIV is $275 direct as a sold out resort, and someone wants RIV, you do t think the market might not hold around $160 ish? I do.

Regardless, I look at whatever I’d get if I had to sell. We were not interested in renting so I never use that figure and used cash rate at a discount.

So, for us, restrictions have no impact on me as an owner because I own the resorts I want to stay at and compared to what it would cost me to do the same trips with cash, I am making out. If I sold my contracts tomorrow, even at the current average…against what I paid…I’d be ahead of the game still.

My opinion is that anyone buying who needs or wants a certain value when selling is setting them up for potential disappointment.

Look at people who bought in 2022, even resale. An owner who bought most resorts would be selling at a loss today if they were forced to sell.
 
I discussed with the same amount of people that you did :) (I would have thought the "I would wager" would have indicated speculation, but I digress).

Not to be Devil's Advocate, but if that were the case, then there wouldn't be any resales at all, and yet, here we are with what has been a pretty vibrant resale market.

There is a resale market but not all those selling are getting out of DVC. Some are buying other resorts…some just downsizing.

I myself have sold about 8 contracts since becoming a member almost 15 years ago.

As I just mentioned, my bet is many new buyers do not overthink resale value or restrictions when buying, especially direct..if they are even aware of it.

To be fair, we own where we want to stay and trading to other places has never been a huge part of it and don’t care if we had to stay at RIV all the time…..it’s why our only future purchases will be direct or resale RIV.
 
Last edited:
I bet many people do not buy DVC worry g about or even knowing about the resale market

We here on the boards are a minority. The data regarding selling is that of those who did sell, they have owned 7 to 10 years…but that isn’t the same as owners only keeping that short time. For example, if 5% of DVC owners sell contracts, out of those owners only, they have owned that short time.

But I have always believed that resale value should not be part of the equation when deciding to buy. Too many variables in play that can influence it.

We still have no clear idea, once RIV, or future restricted resorts sell out, where the resale number will fall.

If in 10 years, RIV is $275 direct as a sold out resort, and someone wants RIV, you do t think the market might not hold around $160 ish? I do.

Regardless, I look at whatever I’d get if I had to sell. We were not interested in renting so I never use that figure and used cash rate at a discount.

So, for us, restrictions have no impact on me as an owner because I own the resorts I want to stay at and compared to what it would cost me to do the same trips with cash, I am making out. If I sold my contracts tomorrow, even at the current average…against what I paid…I’d be ahead of the game still.

My opinion is that anyone buying who needs or wants a certain value when selling is setting them up for potential disappointment.

Look at people who bought in 2022, even resale. An owner who bought most resorts would be selling at a loss today if they were forced to sell.
This. Until the contract is sold, you don't know what the value is. Not that long ago, SSR was pushing 130s-135s, it's now what? mid 80s-100? Things change. The economy, political climate, hell there could be a hurricane that rolls through WDW heaven forbid and take out a park. You should go into this with pretty much the only expectation of years of vacations for you and your family and even that is not always a given.
 
I bet many people do not buy DVC worry g about or even knowing about the resale market

That's probably true for many, at least until they want to sell and their brokers explain to them why it's worth so little. Maybe then they will come to this board and ask a question similar to what the OP asked...


We still have no clear idea, once RIV, or future restricted resorts sell out, where the resale number will fall.

If in 10 years, RIV is $275 direct as a sold out resort, and someone wants RIV, you do t think the market might not hold around $160 ish? I do.

I don't think RIV's resale value will be determined by what the "sold out" price will be, especially because the direct product is so different. It will be determined by its desirability as a restricted resort relative to unrestricted options available to resale buyers ranging from VGF, BLT or PVB, to SSR, OKWe and even AUL. I strongly suspect that most resale buyers, who happen to be relatively informed, greatly prefer the flexibility to book at 14 resorts (or 9 post-2042) vs getting the option to always stay at just 1 resort. Everything else equal, that will translate to a substantially discounted price for RIV relative to what the prevailing prices might be for the other WDW resorts, in particular those with easy access to some major park, like those on the monorail. There may be an adjustment for contract length that favors RIV, and maybe a favorable "location adjustment" relative to OKWe and SSR, but the lack of ability to easily exchange/trade within the ecosystem is unequivocally a resale value destroyer. For example, I firmly believe that, within 10 years after they start selling Poly2, it's resale value will be substantially lower than Poly1 (assuming Poly2 is restricted). And, once things settle and there is greater resale supply, RIV will be selling on the resale market for much less than a resort like BLT.
 
Last edited:
Prior year points for free? I suspect you mean you received current points and you paid the pro-rated dues on them which are based on calendar year not on use year. DVC implies or even says they are free but that's marketing. Actual free points have been given as Developer points but I can't recall that promotion happening for at least a decade.

DVC is also not a car with typical use depreciation. I guess you could argue DVC does but not in the same way. Instead the person who buys direct stays in the exact same room for the exact same number of points as a direct buyer. And as we clearly saw any benefits of actual monetary value can disappear and it isn't even DVC's call on it.

Then the question if you didn't own DVC would you have paid full rack rate to stay at Riviera assuming that's what you compared to state you recouped 1/2 your purchase price in 1 trip. DVC has never had a payback with those #'s so something sounds off.

And I think you'd be amazed the number of people they sell to that learned DVC exists while on vacation and then learned all about it at the sales presentation just before signing the contract. That is the majority of people they sell to quite similar to most timeshare sales.
No I mean prior years points, and Disney paid the dues on them. It was not a promotion, you just have to ask for DVC to include the points from the prior year…

My dues started the following calendar year…..

you are correct DVC is not a car, but what depreciation schedule do you think it should follow…. The typical time share model?

would my family of seven stay at Riviera with out the points and paid Rack, maybe ‘ maybe not, more than likely my wife would have won the argument and we would have been club level at the poly or GF in 2 or 3 rooms ….. wanna do the comps on that?

bottom line the rack rate on the two bedroom at RIVIERA the day I booked our trip without tax was close to 18,000

i used less than two years worth of points. The free ones and my first year to book it…. With points left over

with all the rebates and incentives offered at the time, I paid around 34k plus or minus….

and yes, i agreed, I am completely baffled, how many people make major financial decisions with ZERO due diligence,
the whine that they were taken advantage of….

Caveat Emptor…… learn it, love it, live it
 
That's probably true for many, at least until they want to sell and their brokers explain to them why it's worth so little. Maybe then they will come to this board and ask a question similar to what the OP asked...




I don't think RIV's resale value will be determined by what the "sold out" price will be, especially because the direct product is so different. It will be determined by its desirability as a restricted resort relative to unrestricted options available to resale buyers ranging from VGF, BLT or PVB, to SSR, OKWe and even AUL. I strongly suspect that most resale buyers, who happen to be relatively informed, greatly prefer the flexibility to book at 14 resorts (or 9 post-2042) vs getting the option to always stay at just 1 resort. Everything else equal, that will translate to a substantially discounted price for RIV relative to what the prevailing prices might be for the other WDW resorts, in particular those with easy access to some major park, like those on the monorail. There may be an adjustment for contract length that favors RIV, and maybe a favorable "location adjustment" relative to OKWe and SSR, but the lack of ability to easily exchange/trade within the ecosystem is unequivocally a resale value destroyer. For example, I firmly believe that, within 10 years after they start selling Poly2, it's resale value will be substantially lower than Poly1 (assuming Poly2 is restricted). And, once things settle and there is greater resale supply, RIV will be selling on the resale market for much less than a resort like BLT.
Riviera is going to be a buy where you want to stay resort…..
Riviera does have very easy access to two parks….
taking the skyline to Epcot was effortless….and faster than walking from beach club….
yes, it is not all weather….

Riviera it is a love it or hate it resort…. For those of us that love it and what to add on where do you think we will buy points when Disney sells out….

At 200 a point I might add on with direct points, I might… If Disney can get them for me in a reasonable time frame ….

However, if Disney can’t get them, or has a waiting list, I would be happy paying 140 to 160 …. Assuming I add on in the next 6 years… at 160 a point, that works 4 bucks a point per year….. even if dues were 10 or 15 dollars per point, it is still cheaper than renting…..

As 2042 approaches, and the value of buying one of those resort is gone, or at least diminishing,
Demain will force all the remaining resort to gain value,

Yes the nine remaining unrestricted resort will increase first and lead the resale market, however, there will always be someone that want to get a deal on DVC.

When BLT, VGF, CCV, and POLY2 are all around 200 a point resale, 160 a point for Riviera will seem like a great deal….

In 2042 using Aulini points at the either of the parks maybe problematic, at best….. I personally would not bank on a week long stay at WDW with Aulini points after 2042….

Also as more Direct points are sold at new restricted resorts, you May find it harder to Sleep Around…resale point may all become effectively restricted…. With effectively only seven resort available for resale points at the WDW resort.

Buying Riviera now may very well be like buying Amazon’s when it was just a book store….

so please drive the price of Riviera down now, be complaining about restrictions …

my kids will love you for it,
 
Riviera is going to be a buy where you want to stay resort…..
Riviera does have very easy access to two parks….
taking the skyline to Epcot was effortless….and faster than walking from beach club….
yes, it is not all weather….

Riviera it is a love it or hate it resort…. For those of us that love it and what to add on where do you think we will buy points when Disney sells out….

If you stay to watch the fireworks show, you'll still be in line for the Skyliner by the time someone walking to Beach Club is in their room (I've seen that Skyliner line and stood in it). But there is really no reason to hate that resort. I like it a lot too and and am happy to use my direct points to book it at 7 months or via waitlist...

bottom line the rack rate on the two bedroom at RIVIERA the day I booked our trip without tax was close to 18,000

We're staying in a 2BR at Aulani next summer in a 2BR OV with a weekly rack rate of $18.5K after tax. The dues on 483 points are a lot less, but I don't see Aulani resale prices skyrocketing because of that. Rack rates don't impact resale prices - supply and demand do... With DVC, a resort at WDW is more in demand than a resort in Oahu. And a resort without resale restrictions is more in demand than a resort with resale restrictions.

I think it will be interesting to see over time if people prefer an Oahu resort that can trade into 13 (or 8) other DVC resorts at 7 months out well into the 2050s, or a WDW resort that can only be used only at a single location until 2070. My best guess is that RIV will eventually be a cheaper option than AUL on the resale market.

Buying Riviera now may very well be like buying Amazon’s when it was just a book store….

so please drive the price of Riviera down now, be complaining about restrictions …

my kids will love you for it,

Me posting my opinions about RIV affect its resale price about just as much as you invoking Amazon stock in 1998, or $18,000 rack rates. If anything on here has an adverse impact on resale prices it's the ROFR and the Rejected Offers threads.

What will impact RIV resale prices most downwards in the next few years is increasing resale supply as the resort matures into a steady state of original buyers who want/need to sell.
 
Last edited:
If you stay to watch the fireworks show, you'll still be in line for the Skyliner by the time someone walking to Beach Club is in their room (I've seen that Skyliner line and stood in it). But there is really no reason to hate that resort. I like it a lot too and and am happy to use my direct points to book it at 7 months or via waitlist...



We're staying in a 2BR at Aulani next summer in a 2BR OV with a weekly rack rate of $18.5K after tax. The dues on 483 points are a lot less, but I don't see Aulani resale prices skyrocketing because of that. Rack rates don't impact resale prices - supply and demand do... With DVC, a resort at WDW is more in demand than a resort in Oahu. And a resort without resale restrictions is more in demand than a resort with resale restrictions.

I think it will be interesting to see over time if people prefer an Oahu resort that can trade into 14 (or 9) other DVC resorts at 7 months out, or a WDW resort that can only be used only at a single location until 2070. My best guess is that RIV will eventually be a cheaper option than AUL on the resale market.



Me posting my opinions about RIV affect its resale price about just as much as you invoking Amazon stock in 1998, or $18,000 rack rates. If anything on here has an adverse impact on resale prices it's the ROFR and the Rejected Offers threads.

What will impact RIV resale prices most downwards in the next few years is increasing resale supply as the resort matures into a steady state of original buyers who want/need to sell.
I have heard that about the skyliner, not taking a position on it….

What I can say is when I did stay late at Epcot the line all the way to beach club was for wheels chairs….. we walked on without stopping….. maybe things have changed but my experience is that is the wheel chair and scooter line …
 
But as a new buyer in 2023, restrictions increased the value of my direct purchase over resale.
I'm sorry, I realize this is just a fixation of mine :)

I am not arguing about the end result: DVC direct and resale are now two different products and the difference will only increase over time. DVC resale cannot even be called "Vacation club" according to the definition in the Florida stature, because that requires access to the club reservation component, which Riviera, VDH and almost certainly CFW will not have. DVC resale is a one resort timeshare, DVC direct is a Vacation club timeshare. It makes a huge difference.

This is undeniable. However, I am arguing with the choice of words.
When dealing with corporations, it is important to separate the marketing fluff from the facts. And choosing the right words help consumers to better understand the products they are buying.
DVC spends millions in marketing and sales initiatives. We don't have to make life easier for them to throw pixie dust in the eyes of potential buyers.
The resale restrictions haven't added value for the direct purchasers. I am ready to die on this hill.
A better choice of word is: the resale restrictions have removed more value from resale than from direct, then widening the gap between the two.

This choice of words is important because shows that there is a loss of value (how much depends on individual circumstances) even for direct.

DVC was created at a time when timeshares were a synonym of scam and Disney set out to be different. That's why there was no difference with resale, the sale pitch has never been high pressure, the guides (almost all) don't blatantly lie. And yet, they're converging toward industry standard, by DVC admission and recent goals, which means also being less consumer friendly. And the way we describe the effect of resale restrictions is important for someone who learning the ins and outs of DVC, which at the end of the day is the important service this forum provides.




Also when 2042 rolls around we might have a much easier time finding something fun at 7 months than if we were locked out of new resorts with resale.

I guess we'll have to wait and see.
It is possible that the fact that resale buyers can only book their own resort might push them to book earlier and earlier, because they won't even have a shot at SSR short term availability, which means tighter availability for direct purchasers as well. We don't know how booking patterns will be impacted in the long term.


 
Last edited:



















DIS Facebook DIS youtube DIS Instagram DIS Pinterest

Back
Top