Why Would You Buy Direct Anymore?

[eandt]

Of course $20 per day is better than $0 per day. And of course they buy some food and drinks.
But they still spend MUCH LESS than a family that is staying on site, that is on property 24/7... paying for a hotel, paying for ALL of their meals.

LOL right but a "$20 a day" visitor isn't keeping that family staying on property from staying on property OR being in the parks spending "much more" except on the rare times (in normal times) of capacity being met

 

[havoc315]

LOL right but a "$20 a day" visitor isn't keeping that family staying on property from staying on property OR being in the parks spending "much more" except on the rare times (in normal times) of capacity being met

Correct. And that’s why they sell APs during normal times. And Why they limit them in “abnormal” times.

 

[havoc315]

If majority of those visiting now are locals then of course they spend less since many won't stay over night or stay as long if they do. In normal times I would bet that the majority of guests are not locals.

Exactly my point. That is why it really doesn't matter on about 360 days a year that there are many walking around the parks paying "$20 a day"

And that was my point.

As I said from the start — they are currently not selling new APs because with the capacity limits, APs don’t make them the most money.

 

[havoc315]

But you have to have extra capacity to create capacity. Its one of the paradoxes of logistics management. Operating at capacity is not efficient and leaves no resources for expansion.

You’ve lost me. Maximizing profit gives you the resources to expand capacity.

By your logic, WDW should operate at 75% at Christmas week. Yet — they eke out maximum capacity whenever they can.

 

[dvc lover 1970]

Without the AP I would only buy resale.

 

[Sandisw]

Without the AP I would only buy resale.

Unless you want to stay at both RIV and L14 resorts occasionally. Then direct it Is.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Unless you want to stay at both RIV and L14 resorts occasionally. Then direct it Is.

Or - buy non-Riv resale for 14 resorts and rent or transfer for the occasional Riv stay.

 

[Sandisw]

Or - buy non-Riv resale for 14 resorts and rent or transfer for the occasional Riv stay.

True and I know that is the normal response, but renting is not the same as owning. I personally don’t think it’s an equivalent option and comes with risks. for stays at RIV...unless it’s something one wants only once in a great while,

But, for regular stays, I think you need to own there.

 

[DVCsloth]

Direct is more costly but it has its advantages, especially if you buy when the resort first goes on sale. Usually, a few years later the resale prices are what you bought in direct for and you have no restrictions. I think the only way I would consider resale now is if it were a small contract and exactly what I wanted. I always scan the resale prices and they look like there are very few that I would consider. If I had a large family and needed a lot of points, resale may be worth it to me.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

True and I know that is the normal response, but renting is not the same as owning. I personally don’t think it’s an equivalent option and comes with risks. for stays at RIV...unless it’s something one wants only once in a great while,

But, for regular stays, I think you need to own there.

Thus I stated the occasional stay.

Renting out your own points and paying cash is also an option.

And transfers leave points under your control.

 

[pangyal]

We swore for years that we would never buy direct, but after owning only resale contracts, we ended up purchasing a direct contract for the first time last month only because they were able to provide something that we couldn’t find on the resale market (a guaranteed week 51/ Christmas Week contract). With the incentives, the cost per point was honestly not that much higher than what CCV is selling for on average on the resale market at the moment (with some obvious outliers, of course). For our situation, it made sense to pay about $9k more to get exactly what we wanted, which over the life of the contract works out to $195 extra per year over resale. I’m certainly not saying that this would be applicable to most buyers, but wanted to provide a rationale for buying direct that hasn’t been mentioned yet (I think).

 

[AZMermaid]

I am happy with the points I have, but if I wanted more, I’d consider waiting for DL Hotel direct. I’m in AZ, VGC points are $225-250 resale (which I bought at 125 and that was tough knowing what direct prices were initially). WDW is an every 3-4 year vacation for us, whereas we do to DL about every year or so.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Well, just to say.... I bowed out of my other conversation because it appeared to be turning into an argument.

That does not mean I concede my stance on the issues.

 

[sethschroeder]

Well, I disagree with almost everything you have said, but I won’t argue about it. So, like the saying goes... we will agree to disagree.

Bob Chapek has even stated day guests bring in more revenue previously.
"As you know, different guests—depending on where they’re coming from—have different relative values in terms of their contribution as a guest to the park. Typically, somebody who travels and stays for 5 to 7 days is marginally more valuable to the business than someone who comes in on an Annual Pass and stays a day or two and consumes less merchandise and food and beverage. So the way I would look at it, as our constituency changes a little bit, so do our overall margins."

Day Guests are more valuable on a per day basis. That doesn't mean Disney doesn't want AP holders around since they still generate likely a large amount of revenue for the parks. In the end except for the last 9 months WDW has never been short on space except maybe 1 or 2 days the whole year. (although I might say they are short on space)