Unique question about direct add-on

[Taylor1428]

I tried to look through recent posts and search google, but I could not find a solid answer on this.

I am mid (Post rofr) contract on points at BWV via resale. I would like to add on 25 points direct to access the direct perks on annual passes. What I want to understand is what is the best use of my money. I know BWV direct right now is $165 per point vs buying Poly direct at $176. I know 25 points wont go very far at Poly but would allow me to stay 2-3 nights every couple years and have that ability for 49 years vs the 25ish if I buy at BWV.

So the question I have is, will I be better suited spending $11 more per point to have a direct contract at Poly for 50ish years compared to having all my points at BWV. The 'cost per year of point' (Cost per Point/Years on Contract) is almost 50% more favorable to Poly ($6.60 for BWV or $3.60 for Poly).

Thanks for helping an overly analytical guy figure out what to do!

 

[Nie0214]

It is personal to you. If you won't need the extra 25 for your BWV vacations, and would bank/borrow to get up to 75 points (or do a split stay), adding on at another resort can make sense.

We bought a 100 BLT resale and added on 25 AKL because we love that resort and it's for in between trips.

 

[DaveNan]

First, I think DVC should not be viewed as an investment. However, if you want to compare the alternatives, using investment/financial tools is the best way to do so.
Using financial tools will also greatly change the "cost" of points per year. You don't simply divide the total cost by the number of years. 10 dollars in 25 years will not we "worth" as much as it is today.
The biggest influence in the comparison will be the discount rate (kinda the same as interest or inflation rate) you choose. This discount rate is what tries to make the "value" of dollars in the future equal to the "value" of dollars today.
I will do the comparison for you at 3 different discount rates
At 3 percent BWV $8.96 (is what you pay in 2017 "dollars" per year) PVB $6.64
At 5 percent BWV $10.93 (is what you pay in 2017 "dollars" per year) PVB $9.18
At 7 percent BWV $13.04 PVB $11.91
At 0 percent BWV $6.34 PVB $3.52

For all these I assumed you got 2017 points also, so you had one more year of points. That's why the 0 percent cost is a little less than yours.
Again - Looking at it like an investment is always tough. (and it shows it to be more expensive than simply dividing the cost by the number of year.

To answer the original question -
The cost per year starts to get more equal (particularly from percentage basis) the higher the discount rate. (at 10% they are nearly equal, but for personal finance that is a pretty high discount rate)
In the end - where to you want points? Will you still want/be using them in 30 years? It's not an investment.....

 

[CarolMN]

Congratulations on getting past ROFR - you'll be in the system soon!

If it were my decision, I would get the add-on at BWV. Here's why:

*Banking & borrowing to make sure those points are ALL used, can be a hassle, especially if your family doesn't appreciate split stays. Convenience is important to me - It would irritate me to "strand" a few points every now and then or to have to rent additional Poly points to prevent losing mine.

*The points per room at the BWV are much less than at the Poly. If you go every other year, 50 points gets you 5 nights at the BWV and only 3 at the Poly (plus you will have 2 "leftovers' to deal with). During the time we prefer to go, we can stay a week at the BWV for 76 or 107 points vs the Poly which would be 118 or 148. (Note that the Poly standard views are over 50% more than the BWV). We enjoyed the Poly very much, but I just cannot get past the cost per night to want to stay there again, even though the Poly studios are much larger.

Dues - Know that we are expecting a fairly significant increase in dues next year because of property taxes. Based on the past few years, my OPINION is that the MK resorts are going to see larger increases than the EPCOT resorts which will probably be larger than the other WDW resorts.

No one knows what the future resale market will do, so other than knowing the Poly is very likely to "hold its value" longer than the 2042 resorts, I don't see the advantage of the longer contract length. Most people will not hold their contracts to the end. Will you want to saddle your heirs (if this applies), with annual dues or the hassle of selling if they can't afford or don't want the contract? I personally always consdiered that the initial purchase price was a "sunk" cost and did my analysis assuming the resale value would be zero. (Many here do not agree with that, but I am more conservative financially than many who post here and believe all vacation dollars should come from discretionary funds).

For me, the bottom line is WHERE DO YOU WANT THE 11 MONTH BOOKING PRIORITY? Cost is certainly a consideration, but if you can't stay where you want to be, the initial joy of saving on the purchase will soon be forgotten. If you want to spend a few days every year or so at the Poly (especially between September and Marathon Weekend in January), you will be glad to have the home resort booking priority, If you're OK will only being able to stay there occasionally by booking at 7 months, then ease of use says go for the BWV add-on. Good luck!


P.S. If you buy BWV and stay in the standard views, you will soon see what I mean about not wanting to spend more to stay elsewhere. This is why we haven't ever stayed at SSR, BRV, VGF, & BCV, and only once at PVB & twice at BLT. Plus we love that you can walk to both EPCOT & DHS!

 

[DaveNan]

As I was mowing, some additional thoughts came to mind. There is a difference between an investment and a poor financial decision. I believe, if you are planning on going to Disney regularly, DVC is a good financial decision. Using the numbers above in the 3-5% window, with $6 MF added you are looking at $14-$16 per point per year. If you buy resale those numbers drop to $10-$12 (including MF). Either just under to way under rental prices. So if you are going every year, you save over rental and get the advantage of ownership (and member extras if you have some direct). The biggest of those advantages over rental is control of booking at the 11 and 7 month windows. I rented for the first time this year and there is not a surplus of points out there waiting for you to exercise right at the booking window!

As far as financial return on a small direct purchase..... if the AP and food/shopping discounts save you at least $100 total per year, you get back the point premium you paid in the long run.

 

[BillPA]

My advice is if you really want to do this, do it NOW. If it saves you money, Disney will change this "perk", so hurry.

 

[Nie0214]

My advice is if you really want to do this, do it NOW. If it saves you money, Disney will change this "perk", so hurry.

Especially seeing how many small direct contracts are popping up on the comptroller site!

 

[Dean]

I tried to look through recent posts and search google, but I could not find a solid answer on this.

I am mid (Post rofr) contract on points at BWV via resale. I would like to add on 25 points direct to access the direct perks on annual passes. What I want to understand is what is the best use of my money. I know BWV direct right now is $165 per point vs buying Poly direct at $176. I know 25 points wont go very far at Poly but would allow me to stay 2-3 nights every couple years and have that ability for 49 years vs the 25ish if I buy at BWV.

So the question I have is, will I be better suited spending $11 more per point to have a direct contract at Poly for 50ish years compared to having all my points at BWV. The 'cost per year of point' (Cost per Point/Years on Contract) is almost 50% more favorable to Poly ($6.60 for BWV or $3.60 for Poly).

Thanks for helping an overly analytical guy figure out what to do!

It depends on your specifics such as how many BWV points you have compared to what you plan to use and how you'd use the other points. I wouldn't buy 25 poly but if you have plenty of BWV points, including a good cushion in case they reallocate, I'd likely look at something like SSR or AKV for the standard/value view rooms, esp if you can get several days every couple of years out of 25 points.

 

[Spork24]

If I was in your shoes I would buy my direct points at Copper Creek as I would guess the resales in that will be more affordable than poly resales, which would allow us to build on those points via resale later if we wanted.

I however don't like studios which could be driving my anti poly vibe.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I'd just go with the BWV. 25 points will be a pain to work with as a stand alone contract IMO. Workable, yes, but always just a bit of a nagging pain. Yes it's less years but assuming you chose BWV because you want to stay at an Epcot resort much of the time just make it simple and easier on yourself and add on there.