Should I add direct contract?

[Caribcat]

Hi Friends!

I need the opinion and help of those much more experienced then I am with DCV.

I currently have 550 points resale AKL Dec use year (various contracts)

Would you advise adding in a direct contract to get the direct benefits? If so which of the two resorts below?

I have been offered the following deals - No Magical beginnings as I am international:

• Riviera: 150 - $28,550 - Dec - DVC will allow 2022 points to be banked - Pay over 90 days interest free
• 
  
• AKL: 150 - $30,600 - Dec - DVC will allow 2022 points to be banked - Pay over 90 days interest free

I have two trips planned for 2024 - so will need to buy park passes for both (April and August)
Current UK cost is £500 per adult per trip (approx $1260 for the 2 trips)
I assume that Sorcerers pass costs less than this but I am not able to see the price from the UK.

I am on the fence on this one and do not know what the best option is.

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[intamin]

I personally wouldn’t purchase based on direct perks such as annual passes and etc even though they are nice to have, especially when visiting 3+ times in a year. 2x does save you 200 per family member but you really see the benefit at 3+ visits per year. The USD price of sorcerer passes is 1032 per person after taxes. However, perks are subject to change at any time.

The main benefit of buying direct is being able to use the points at new resale restricted resorts like RIV, VDH, CFW and potentially Poly 2. Ask yourself if you think its worth it to stay in those resorts.

 

[AstroBlasters]

Is there anything else besides the discounted pass that is making you consider direct?

 

[Caribcat]

Thanks for replies so far. One other benefit of direct that I can think of is that I can use the points to book a weekend at Disneyland Paris.

Thurs - Sunday 2 bedroom at Les Villages Nature is approx 150 points depending on dates
--- Booking with cash is approx $1000 so not sure if this is best use of 150 points

 

[intamin]

Thanks for replies so far. One other benefit of direct that I can think of is that I can use the points to book a weekend at Disneyland Paris.

Thurs - Sunday 2 bedroom at Les Villages Nature is approx 150 points depending on dates
--- Booking with cash is approx $1000 so not sure if this is best use of 150 points

It’s a terrible conversion of the points and should not be used as such.

Your calculated price per point is 28550/(46*150) + 8.5= 12.64 per point, not accounting for opportunity cost.

12.64*150 = 1896 aka just pay cash.

I’m generally a proponent of hybrid memberships but if you don’t care about the new resorts then in your case I’m not sure it makes sense.

 

[Straulin]

We bought direct at VGF back in April. We wanted VGF and the price difference between direct and resale wasn’t too large. We can’t expect to always have the same membership benefits BUT for my family of four, the price difference on the annual passes (sorcerer vs Incredipass) adds up to $1,720 per year ($430 each).

So if you intend to have annual passes every year (like us), we gambled on them staying available with a similar price difference. Looking at the price difference between direct and resale, the savings will more than even us out in 4 years of passes.

I would include this math in your analysis. It is what pushed us over to direct along with the other benefits.

 

[kanerf]

The perks are small, but nice to have. There is the ability to purchase the cheaper annual pass, the access to the DVC lounge at Epcot, access to DVC only events and food and merchandise discounts. With the current sale price on Riviera, I would go for it. I own there, both direct and resale. I own at Kidani also, both direct and resale.

 

[intamin]

We bought direct at VGF back in April. We wanted VGF and the price difference between direct and resale wasn’t too large. We can’t expect to always have the same membership benefits BUT for my family of four, the price difference on the annual passes (sorcerer vs Incredipass) adds up to $1,720 per year ($430 each).

So if you intend to have annual passes every year (like us), we gambled on them staying available with a similar price difference. Looking at the price difference between direct and resale, the savings will more than even us out in 4 years of passes.

I would include this math in your analysis. It is what pushed us over to direct along with the other benefits.

Seems like the difference in price for them since their 2 trips per year costs 1260, the sorcerer pass would save them about 230 per person per year.

IMO I would compare the cost of resale vs. direct. Do you care about moonlight magic, new resorts, discounts, annual passes? Do you see yourself visiting more than twice per year in the future?

I would only consider more resale AKV or another resort thar is not resale restricted if you’re going to go the resale route. If you’re going direct I would diversify your portfolio and get direct RIV or VGF personally.

 

[Spinster Travel]

As US Resident, I'd probably go for it and pick the resort that you like. I'm not a huge fan of RR, but people LOVE IT. You already have the AKL points and the incentives are nice for RR so I'd probably take that. Having all of that being said, I too am a current Resale Owner (have one small 25 point direct contract so I do not qualify for Blue Card perks). I am looking for Direct once Poly goes on sale because I am a short flight away to take advantage of Moonlight Magic etc. I'm not sure how much you will use those perks or have the flexibility to use those perks being in the UK. One thing I will say is that three years ago I was contimplating OKW Direct vs Resale and I went resale. I wish I had gotten that OKW contract at $150/point when it was only 125 points for direct perks. Prices only go up around here, so do what feels right by your gut and you wallet. Good luck!!!

 

[stevelle]

We own akl resale and then bought Riviera direct during our visit last month. I wanted a small amount of points to use there and at any newer resorts, wasn’t even thinking blue card. But husband saw that one bedroom and suddenly two days before the end of our trip we’ve become direct members with 150 points, were upgrading our ten day tickets to sorcerer passes, and getting discounts on our souvenir purchases. I know the benefits are small and never guaranteed but I’m still excited to unexpectedly be a direct member a month later.

 

[D-Trick]

@Caribcat - are any of your AKV resale contracts from before the 2019 usage restrictions?

 

[Sandisw]

While it’s never wise to buy for the perks, it is nice to be eligible for them whatever they seem to be.

If you see being elgible for the Sorcerer pass a plus, and can see having direct points which are good everywhere a big plus, I’d opt for direct points.

 

[Caribcat]

@Caribcat - are any of your AKV resale contracts from before the 2019 usage restrictions?

All from 2023 unfortunately.

Thank you everybody for all the replies! Such a nice community.

 

[FlyingDonut]

Another question is if you would otherwise be purchasing the 150 points? If you now you're going to be purchasing 150 points, the cost of the direct perks is direct_price - resale_price. So $100 ish per point.

If you're just wanting the direct perks, but don't really need the points, you're paying the "full" $200 Disney direct price just for the perks.

 

[take36]

Hi Friends!

I need the opinion and help of those much more experienced then I am with DCV.

I currently have 550 points resale AKL Dec use year (various contracts)

Would you advise adding in a direct contract to get the direct benefits? If so which of the two resorts below?

I have been offered the following deals - No Magical beginnings as I am international:

• Riviera: 150 - $28,550 - Dec - DVC will allow 2022 points to be banked - Pay over 90 days interest free
• 
  
• AKL: 150 - $30,600 - Dec - DVC will allow 2022 points to be banked - Pay over 90 days interest free

I have two trips planned for 2024 - so will need to buy park passes for both (April and August)
Current UK cost is £500 per adult per trip (approx $1260 for the 2 trips)
I assume that Sorcerers pass costs less than this but I am not able to see the price from the UK.

I am on the fence on this one and do not know what the best option is.

Thanks in advance for the help!

If you plan to be a DVC member for "life" then direct points make sense so you can feel like a "full member."

Do you like staying at Riviera? If that is a resort you willing to hold for the lifetime then it makes sense given the longer contract length and its even cheaper! However the resale restriction looms and its design is not as timeless as AKL.

If I were you (and I do not like Riviera as a DVC "investment"), I would still buy Riviera direct because I would be diversifying to an "Epcot" resort that gives some flexibility for Epcot events and its a longer contract for less.

 

[eticketplease]

Since you are an international visitor…

As far as Annual Passes it doesn’t matter how many trips you are taking but rather how many days you visit the park is what matters. I’m not sure what it is now but it used to be 10 days in the parks to break even.

Since you will probably be here for that long or longer the AP may make sense to you.

The other thing is Split stays. Some people love them others hate them. My SO absolutely hates them so that is one reason why I would buy at your existing home resort of AKL. This way you would be able to use them all at the 11 month window at one resort.

RIV is a great resort but its point charts are high so if you are only doing 150 just prepare to do a lot of split stays. Of course you could always combine at the 7 month mark with your AKL points to stay at the Original 14 resorts.

 

[Plutopian]

Since you're already over 500 pts. I'd go direct. New resorts will open and you won't want to be shut out. It's hard to make the math work but you've already invested enough that you don't want to feel like you can't enjoy the entire experience.

 

[intamin]

As far as Annual Passes it doesn’t matter how many trips you are taking but rather how many days you visit the park is what matters. I’m not sure what it is now but it used to be 10 days in the parks to break even.

The thing that makes the tickets expensive is if you're doing multiple trips of like 4-5 days, 10 days in a row is not that expensive.

A 5 day ticket is 638 with park hopper starting tomorrow. A 10 day ticket with park hopper is 749 after tax starting tomorrow.

International guests usually get even better ticket deals than US guests so their deals may be even better than this. 2 x 5 day trips is 1276, the pass is 1032 so 240 dollars in savings per person per year. This is why I say if you're planning to do 3+ trips in a year it really makes a lot of sense to buy direct because then ticket price jumps to nearly 2,000 per person per year as opposed to the 1,000 for the pass. But even with the 200 dollar saving per person, OP if you care about the resorts it still makes sense to buy direct and I would recommend it in that case.

If you don't care about the new resorts then it may make resale make more sense but personally I love RIV and I don't want to be locked out of new resorts so I'd probably opt for direct.

 

[AstroBlasters]

Can I vote to wait until the winter incentives to see if a better deal comes along on direct?

 

[eticketplease]

International guests usually get even better ticket deals than US guests so their deals may be even better than this. 2 x 5 day trips is 1276, the pass is 1032 so 240 dollars in savings per person per year. This is why I say if you're planning to do 3+ trips in a year it really makes a lot of sense to buy direct because then ticket price jumps to nearly 2,000 per person per year as opposed to the 1,000 for the pass. But even with the 200 dollar saving per person, OP if you care about the resorts it still makes sense to buy direct and I would recommend it in that case.

Just looked on the uk site and it was 559£ for a 14 day ticket with memory maker. That comes in and just under $700 after conversion. If OP is just coming once a year the AP doesn’t appear to be worth it as @intamin pointed out. Enjoy the savings from resale and if you want to stay at RIV rent your points out and pay cash.