Rumor: Direct Minimum for DVC Purchase Increasing to 150 Points

[Bjaiken77]

Epcot has plenty more expansion options!

I hope they do introduce more Epcot options. We all know BCV and BWV are the prime real estate, but they don’t make a ton of sense as a direct buy due to 2042 expiration . I could never say anything disparaging about MK, but we spend more time in Epcot, especially during festival season. We also will likely be spending more time in HS with the Star Wars expansion. More options that make these parks easily accessible is appealing to us.

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

I kind of wonder if they're not going to demolish a moderate or value hotel and replace it with a deluxe/DVC resort. This would drive up the price point, reduce park loading by replacing more rooms with less rooms, and solve the "desirable location" issue (sort-of, depending on where they chose to do that). I don't think they're headed to lower pricing any time soon...

I don't think they'll tear down any value resort. They get a lot of revenue from youth sports and music events in Normal Times, and the value resorts are the cheapest on-site option. Losing value rooms would push more people to go off-site.

Moderates, on the other hand, could possibly see a conversion or tear-down. They already partially tore down CBR to build RIV. OKW and SSR have exterior corridors, so that's not unprecedented. The lack of balconies would be a downside, although the DLT plan does not include them for the vast majority of rooms.

 

[Bjaiken77]

I don't think they'll tear down any value resort. They get a lot of revenue from youth sports and music events in Normal Times, and the value resorts are the cheapest on-site option. Losing value rooms would push more people to go off-site.

Moderates, on the other hand, could possibly see a conversion or tear-down. They already partially tore down CBR to build RIV. OKW and SSR have exterior corridors, so that's not unprecedented. The lack of balconies would be a downside, although the DLT plan does not include them for the vast majority of rooms.

Yeah, but they couldn’t tear down OKW or SSR because those are current DVC resorts and deeded, right? I think I own a light switch at a specific SSR unit until 2054.

 

[Sandisw]

Yeah, but they couldn’t tear down OKW or SSR because those are current DVC resorts and deeded, right? I think I own a light switch at a specific SSR unit until 2054.

I think the point may have been that moderates have exterior doors into the room and that is the same as OKW and SSR so converting a moderate might be okay.

 

[Bjaiken77]

I think the point may have been that moderates have exterior doors into the room and that is the same as OKW and SSR so converting a moderate might be okay.

Ohhh…thanks for clarifying!

 

[Brian Noble]

Wouldn’t you think this has to mean some of the perks are coming back?

Not necessarily. Most buyers have no idea that the resale market exists, and most new owners don't want to know.

It’s so hard to know-because they are planning two more studio only or studio-heavy expansions (VGF 2 and DLT).

I think both can be true. The current base of owners skews demand heavily toward studios, beyond the existing capacity of the system. So, adding inventory that appeals to those owners makes sense. But, raising the buy-in minimum to induce more demand for larger units also makes sense.

Disney hasn't announced any plans for a another park in Florida to accept visitors from these additional resorts.

I do not expect to ever see a fifth gate, due to typical vacation lengths. There are other reasons too, and Tom B. makes the argument better than I probably would, so I'll just link to it.
https://www.disneytouristblog.com/no-fifth-park-disney-world/
Instead, I think we will see a continued expansion of capacity within existing theme parks---and there has been a lot of that over the past decade or so: New Fantasyland, the Pandoraverse, and ToyStory + Galaxy's Edge are all brand new lands. (You could quibble that they all are replacements for the Subs, Camp Minnie-Mickey, and the Backot Tour/Stunt show respectively, but I think it's fair to say that each was an improvement in capacity.) MK has Tron as a new build coming online.

Epcot is currently undergoing the same with the addition of Rat, the announced re-development of the Wonders of Life pavilion, and converting half of the central core of Future World into something other than mostly dead space.

 

[starfrenzy]

Well, I was planning on getting 75 pts at SSR and working towards 125 for the Blue Card, but between this and the cost increase at SSR, I think I’ll give up considering a direct contact and go back to focusing on resale.

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

Yeah, but they couldn’t tear down OKW or SSR because those are current DVC resorts and deeded, right? I think I own a light switch at a specific SSR unit until 2054.

I think the point may have been that moderates have exterior doors into the room and that is the same as OKW and SSR so converting a moderate might be okay.

Correct - that was the point I was trying to make. Some current DVC resorts have exterior corridors, so I don't think that specific design element is a barrier to conversion of moderate resorts.

 

[mhilldj88]

Just asked my DVC guide and he confirmed the increase to 150, didn’t give a specific date though

 

[mhilldj88]

Just asked my DVC guide and he confirmed the increase to 150, didn’t give a specific date though

He just called and confirmed June 3rd going to 150

 

[DisneyMomof4_86]

150 points and here’s a list of your perks.
-DVC lounge at Epcot.

Enjoy that thirty thousand dollar soda!!!

Lol , that’s a good way to put it !

 

[eandt]

He just called and confirmed June 3rd going to 150

Got the same info today.

 

[DisneyMountainWoman]

I really thought they would wait to increase blue card min when they can sell it with AP discounts with it..... man was I wrong. I just want my gold ap

 

[sugliac]

This is just shocking... makes me feel like less of a sucker for buying in at 100 points before it went up even more though!!

 

[sugliac]

(I should say, maybe not shocking given the precedent and their need to sell...)

 

[sssteele]

Lol , that’s a good way to put it !

Just saved $800 on AP renewals for me and my wife!

 

[sethschroeder]

I was thinking the price increase might be to put SSR close enough in price to RIV that people would consider RIV instead of SSR. Unless RIV sales are strong in which case I have no point. Lol.

RIV is okay but not strong at the same time. I think it partly comes down to SSR really increasing substantially on the resale side recently it seems so Disney sees an opportunity where people will buy it direct and they can ROFR more contracts.

It’s so hard to know-because they are planning two more studio only or studio-heavy expansions (VGF 2 and DLT).

The thing is though 150 points still only gets you a week at RIV or VGF though most of the year. Maybe more if you go in the cheapest time of the year and get a standard studio at RIV.

DLT isn't going to be cheap either and likely will have higher point charts than VGF imo.

Epcot has plenty more expansion options!

Including a nice little walkway to a new entrance by Riviera. They can then bump up CBR to the AKL tier of Deluxe "lite".

 

[MomOTwins]

Lol , that’s a good way to put it !

Except, $30,000 is the all in cost--you have to look at just the upcharge for direct versus resale. If you buy resale, you're probably still looking at close to that amount. I keep hearing "40%" savings with resale but at current resale pricing, it's nothing like that--maybe $5,000-ish savings on a contract of 150 points and you spread it over the life of the contract, makes it like $100-200 a year (unless you buy a 2042 resort, which doesn't make sense to me financially for so many reasons).

The thing is though 150 points still only gets you a week at RIV or VGF though most of the year. Maybe more if you go in the cheapest time of the year and get a standard studio at RIV.

I think this doesn't get talked about enough, but you're right 150 isn't really enough for a whole week in most cases. I originally thought I'd just by 125, and quickly realized that would only work if I limited myself to very ,specific dates, never had to upgrade to preferred views due to limited availability, and point charts never went up substantially for our travel dates. Wanted to be buy 175 or 200, but DH talked me down to 150 to start by reminding me we rarely stay a whole week--usually just 4-5 nights plus a short cruise/universal/beach stay. I think it's actually a good thing Disney is raising the direct minimum, because I feel like it was a bit of a bait and switch when they got people to buy in at just 100 or 125 points and those people couldn't easily book the vacation they want.

 

[limace]

Except, $30,000 is the all in cost--you have to look at just the upcharge for direct versus resale. If you buy resale, you're probably still looking at close to that amount. I keep hearing "40%" savings with resale but at current resale pricing, it's nothing like that--maybe $5,000-ish savings on a contract of 150 points and you spread it over the life of the contract, makes it like $100-200 a year (unless you buy a 2042 resort, which doesn't make sense to me financially for so many reasons).


I think this doesn't get talked about enough, but you're right 150 isn't really enough for a whole week in most cases. I originally thought I'd just by 125, and quickly realized that would only work if I limited myself to very ,specific dates, never had to upgrade to preferred views due to limited availability, and point charts never went up substantially for our travel dates. Wanted to be buy 175 or 200, but DH talked me down to 150 to start by reminding me we rarely stay a whole week--usually just 4-5 nights plus a short cruise/universal/beach stay. I think it's actually a good thing Disney is raising the direct minimum, because I feel like it was a bit of a bait and switch when they got people to buy in at just 100 or 125 points and those people couldn't easily book the vacation they want.

If you’re looking at SSR I think you could save 13k, not five.

You can get a week for under 125 for all or a big part of the year in a studio at
SSR
AKV
BLT
BCV
BWV
BRV
CCV
HHI
OKW
VB

And at some times of year at VGF, PVB, and RIV.

 

[MomOTwins]

If you’re looking at SSR I think you could save 13k, not five.

You can get a week for under 125 for all or a big part of the year in a studio at
SSR
AKV
BLT
BCV
BWV
BRV
CCV
HHI
OKW
VB

And at some times of year at VGF, PVB, and RIV.

I'm not seeing $13K savings at all. At SSR, they JUST raised direct prices at from $165 to $180 a couple of days ago so we don't have resale prices to compare after that price increase. But looking at April averages before the switch, it was an average of $124 resale to $165 direct, i.e., $6,150 savings on a 150 point contract. Even if you took the wider spread on the current $180 price and assumed resale does not go up now that direct has, that's still only $8,400.

You can theoretically get a week at studio for $125 points at those places. My point was that recently, studio availability at 7 months has been abysmal (and often go fast at 11 months too due to people walking reservations). So a lot of those low-price studio stays are illusory unless you want to stay at OKW or SSR. And if that is where you would want to stay, I actually would recommend resale.

Edited to add--looks like SSR is now generally listing in the 130s to low 140s, confirming my suspicion that as direct prices go up, so does resale. I'm sure ROFR plays a factor too in how much it can discounted below direct.