Where do you start?

[smrice95]

If watching youtube videos and reading articles, make sure they are up to date. I looked for years and the one major drawback that I read is that it wasn't worth it if you did not go for 2-3 weeks. That is so wrong! Like most, wished we bought in sooner than we did! Good luck and enjoy the ride!

 

[DanCali]

Thinking about purchasing DVC but have done zero research. Can someone tell me where to start? Thank you!

Here is where I'd start...

First - try learn about the resorts. Pros and cons are subjective, but this video is pretty good when it comes to WDW resorts and gives you an idea of things to think about:

Second - learn how use years work with banking deadlines, and how they align with your travel plans. You don't want a March use year if you travel in January, for example.

Third - buy your first contract resale at one of the pre-Riviera (aka "O14") resorts. You'd be giving up direct perks like EPCOT lounge or Moonlight Magic but you'd reap the primary benefit of having access to 14 resorts, including Hawaii. By buying resale you are minimizing your "exit cost" in case you decide DVC was a bad idea. On the resale market you're paying the "market price" and if you sell a year later you will probably recover most of what you paid, less commissions and such. With a typical direct purchase, you will likely lose much more if you sell shortly thereafter.

Fourth - Keep an eye on incentives. 2023 had some great deals on direct DVC buys at AKV and VGF that arguably made the direct purchase a no-brainer, especially VGF. Many here wish they bought more at the time...

 

[JCCalistri]

T

Just to further expand on the points you already made

1. Direct vs. resale.

Direct Pros:
- Able to book any and all resorts
- Ability to buy Sorcerer pass at Disney World which otherwise is only available to Florida residents
- Access to Moonlight Magic
- Access to DVC Lounges which are not available to resale members at Disneyland, Epcot and at Bay Lake Tower
- 20% discount on merch, 10% discount on food
- points instantly available and loaded into your account

Direct Cons:
- Significantly more expensive buy in cost compared to resale (can save 10s of thousands by buying resale) so do not discount this con
- typically can expect to lose more money if needing to sell the contract in the future compared to buying resale

Resale pros:
- Cheaper buy in cost
- able to recuperate cost without significant loss generally speaking if needing/planning to sell
- Able to pick use year (the importance of this takes a little bit of time to wrap your head around so I won't try to explain it in this comment)

Resale cons:
- Unable to book Riviera, Villas at Disneyland Hotel or Cabins at Fort Wilderness and every other new resort that is not added to an already existing association (unless you buy resale at RIV, VDH or CFW in which case you can ONLY use it at their respective home resort)
- pretty much you don't get access to the stuff I listed in the direct pros
- still paying the same amount in dues which make up more than 2/3 of the price of a contract over it's lifetime

I'd say a lot of us own a mixture of both resale and direct points AKA have hybrid memberships. This allows us to enjoy the full benefits of membership, but also get a significant discount on a lot of our points. IMO though, the only real tangible benefit of buying direct is being able to book any future resorts as all the other benefits are subject to discontinuation at any time. Also the things like merchandise and food discounts are available to you if you have an annual pass so if you're planning to buy a pass or already own a pass, this makes this perk less important.

Thanks for this amazing response. This really helps with direct v resale debate. I appreciate you.

 

[JCCalistri]

Here is where I'd start...

First - try learn about the resorts. Pros and cons are subjective, but this video is pretty good when it comes to WDW resorts and gives you an idea of things to think about:

Second - learn how use years work with banking deadlines, and how they align with your travel plans. You don't want a March use year if you travel in January, for example.

Third - buy your first contract resale at one of the pre-Riviera (aka "O14") resorts. You'd be giving up direct perks like EPCOT lounge or Moonlight Magic but you'd reap the primary benefit of having access to 14 resorts, including Hawaii. By buying resale you are minimizing your "exit cost" in case you decide DVC was a bad idea. On the resale market you're paying the "market price" and if you sell a year later you will probably recover most of what you paid, less commissions and such. With a typical direct purchase, you will likely lose much more if you sell shortly thereafter.

Fourth - Keep an eye on incentives. 2023 had some great deals on direct DVC buys at AKV and VGF that arguably made the direct purchase a no-brainer, especially VGF. Many here wish they bought more at the time...

I appreciate your #3 as we just put a bid on resale for VGF as our first contract. Seems like we made the wise choice. Granted I’ll miss the “perks” but getting financial savings in the front allows me to off set any difference.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Started researching in April and have now have an offer accepted on a resale. I started by watching you tube videos, then read threads here, then searched and watched more you tube videos specific to things I was still confused about. Asked more questions here and then finally made a spreadsheet which really showed me things more clearly when came to narrowing down how/where to buy. Things that are important that I wasnt thinking about early on was use year, 7 month and 11 month booking windows. Another important one was dues vs price per point. I was more focused on price per point and less on dues, when you average it out dues make big difference. I was very close to buying direct but ultimately decided to invest less up front with resale and if it works out well for us then look more into direct.

 

[ClaraOswald]

I was in your position last year. I didn't watch many youtube videos because I just prefer to read things. I mostly asked questions here and read posts. And then read various blogs. Learning about how points work was the trickiest part for me. Also trying to figure out if DVC would be "worth" it or not for us. Lots of math!

 

[tidefan]

I would add that how you intend to use DVC originally may not be how you end up using it 10-15 years from now. There are some other variables worth considering, one of the most important, IMHO, is if you drive or fly to Lake Buena Vista. We drive, and quickly found that Boardwalk, for instance, does not lend itself to a great parking situation if you like to access your car.

Also, for us, going to Aulani was a game changer. When we realized that we could go to Hawaii for basically the cost of airfare and food from the Costco on using our points, it changed how much we went to WDW.

Another big thing is if you have kids, they will age. You may start out being park commandos, but when the kids go off to college, you may start to do more resort focused trips.

My last piece of advice is to visit and maybe stay at all of the properties before you commit. Not everyone has the same likes/dislikes. For instance, while most on this board think of SSR as a "last resort" and tend to like RIV, we are the opposite, we would much rather save the points and stay at SSR, which we think that since the refurb has comparable rooms and much superior pools. However, YMMV. What people like is very subjective and there is not one right answer. There is only your right answer, so figure out what you like and go with that.