Thinking of purchasing direct from Disney

[Rockweed]

Had tried to buy a resale contract at Bay Lake Tower but just got ROFR'd (sigh). The Polynesian has always been at the top of my list for a home resort, so am now thinking of just biting the bullet and buying 150 points from Disney. I have a couple of questions:

1. If I typically go to Disney early January (around the marathon weekend), what would be the best use year?
2. Since I realize it's way too late to book anything at the Poly for January of 2023, would likely would I be to find a studio anywhere (like maybe the new Resort Studios at Grand Floridian), at this late date? If there's a possibility, I'd call Disney very soon to buy some points. If not possible anywhere for this coming January, I could wait a bit before buying.

Thanks for any help. This forum is a wealth of information!

 

[Brian Noble]

Marthon weekend? You are probably (way) too late.

 

[RoseGold]

Poly has a lot of rooms, it's not impossible to book. Waitlist odds are good because there are so many rooms. My waitlist (lake view) filled for marathon weekend 2022. I bet you could get even more if you were patient and kept putting in waitlists for a night or two. You could make this happen with the direct points and the waitlist, maybe even with resale points.

But maybe the solution is to wait for Poly2 or buy some sleep around points to use at Poly1. Maybe you buy into Poly2 with existing owner discounts. Locking into VGF direct when you love Poly seems like a not great plan, especially since Poly will be for sale so soon.

Nothing's open right now, but the waitlist does work. Go look at the room inventory and pick something with a lot of rooms and good odds (Kidani, Poly, SSR) and do a night or two at a time. I have my phone set to make a special noise when I get an email confirmation, which means the waitlist filled.

 

[havoc315]

If you buy direct, Disney will try very hard to accommodate a "welcome home" trip for you. They don't want to sell someone points that are useless for 11 months.
So they will pull from their breakage or undeclared points, etc... Most of the time, they can work to find you something. Just let them know when you're buying that you would want to book something in January.
Might not be your resort of choice, but they can probably get you something.

 

[Rockweed]

Poly has a lot of rooms, it's not impossible to book. Waitlist odds are good because there are so many rooms. My waitlist (lake view) filled for marathon weekend 2022. I bet you could get even more if you were patient and kept putting in waitlists for a night or two. You could make this happen with the direct points and the waitlist, maybe even with resale points.

But maybe the solution is to wait for Poly2 or buy some sleep around points to use at Poly1. Maybe you buy into Poly2 with existing owner discounts. Locking into VGF direct when you love Poly seems like a not great plan, especially since Poly will be for sale so soon.

Nothing's open right now, but the waitlist does work. Go look at the room inventory and pick something with a lot of rooms and good odds (Kidani, Poly, SSR) and do a night or two at a time. I have my phone set to make a special noise when I get an email confirmation, which means the waitlist filled.

Wondering how someone who is not yet a member can take a look at room inventory? Probably wasn't clear in my original post, but I'd want to buy at Polynesian, but was wondering about using those points I hope to buy at Grand Floridian since I keep reading that they're opening a new DVC building there and might find it easier to book that this coming January.

 

[Rockweed]

If you buy direct, Disney will try very hard to accommodate a "welcome home" trip for you. They don't want to sell someone points that are useless for 11 months.
So they will pull from their breakage or undeclared points, etc... Most of the time, they can work to find you something. Just let them know when you're buying that you would want to book something in January.
Might not be your resort of choice, but they can probably get you something.

That sounds encouraging. I'll give them a call soon and see what they can do for this coming January.

 

[BruinEd03]

That sounds encouraging. I'll give them a call soon and see what they can do for this coming January.

Unfortunately, they really won’t tell you or promise you anything until you’ve already bought the points. You also have to make sure that you haven’t booked any trips yet (eg not even book and cancel) via DVC after you’ve bought the contract.

 

[Sandisw]

We don’t allow people to share what is and is not available for DVC because, until you can book it doesn’t matter as things change all the time.

I just got a night in September that was not there this morning so knowing what is happening in January before you are an owner is not really helpful.

But, as mentioned, when buying direct, DVD can attempt to get you a room somewhere on property from rooms they have from several different ways.

 

[RoseGold]

All you need is one room to open up, and rooms do open up. xxxxxxxx (info removed ) and make a waitlist request that has enough rooms to work, SSR, kidani, poly.

 

[CarolynFH]

Wondering how someone who is not yet a member can take a look at room inventory? Probably wasn't clear in my original post, but I'd want to buy at Polynesian, but was wondering about using those points I hope to buy at Grand Floridian since I keep reading that they're opening a new DVC building there and might find it easier to book that this coming January.

They might be able to find you space at the Poly in January, but if not they should have Resort Studios available in the new VGF building, since they still own most of the points there.

 

[JoeyPeligroso]

The new VGF studios have been a bit easier to book as they are relatively new to inventory. I agree that you may have luck with a waitlist for these or Poly if they are not immediately available and certainly your “welcome home“ booking with a direct purchase could also be a potential opportunity.

 

[Her Dotness]

I just got a night in September that was not there this morning so knowing what is happening in January before you are an owner is not really helpful.

It's important to be aware, too, that even when you are an owner, availability can change AS you're trying to book.

DH likes to scan what's available as if we were booking at 7 months just to see what we could get. He'll say, "Oh, look! A Friday at <Epcot resort>. But, maybe we could get <monorail resort other than our home one>."

Me: "Uh-huh. Sounds great." (only half listening)

Because he'll check the second resort and return in a few seconds to find that Friday gone.

 

[Stargazer65]

Had tried to buy a resale contract at Bay Lake Tower but just got ROFR'd (sigh).

Can I ask what price it was taken at? It is not in the ROFR thread that I could find.

 

[Rockweed]

Can I ask what price it was taken at? It is not in the ROFR thread that I could find.

I hadn't put it in the ROFR thread. I was trying to buy 250 points for $176/pt. The lucky seller got that from Disney instead of me (sigh).

 

[Stargazer65]

I hadn't put it in the ROFR thread. I was trying to buy 250 points for $176/pt. The lucky seller got that from Disney instead of me (sigh).

Thanks for the info.

That's a ruh-roh for me, I have a 50 pt BLT contract at 173 in ROFR right now.