Winter Dec 25 - Jan 26 Direct Incentives

[davidhr]

We just got off the Fantasy yesterday and added on 160 RIV direct points while on the ship. We got the magical beginnings incentive and the normal direct incentive for RIV, but only after we were off the ship did I find out about the D23 $500.

Does Riviera add-on qualify? I tried emailing the guide we had on the ship but haven't heard back yet. We haven't notarized anything and did the add-on on 2/5.

Not sure if we can even do anything about it now aside from canceling the add-on and starting over even if we should have qualified.

Riviera qualifies and they can add it if you move quickly.

 

[Vulnox]

Riviera qualifies and they can add it if you move quickly.

Any idea what my options are? I emailed the guide but she’s on a cruise ship. A little harder to get ahold of, not even sure if she’s scheduled for another cruise.

Can I just call member services?

Edit: Member services couldn’t do anything, but gave me the number for the sales team who sent me to the voicemail for Kathy who was our guide on the cruise. Hopefully can get settled. Thanks!

 

[ParkWarriorPunzel]

Love seeing all the CCV love this round of incentives. We own BLT resale and had been waiting on the right opportunity to get the blue card direct. We were ready to pull the trigger while we were on the Magic in December. The guide told us he had a guaranteed week 47 PVB, but we found out the unit was tower inventory, not legacy studios so we held off. We had been weighing CCV, too...because we really enjoy the resort, so after reading this thread, I went back to the guide to see what he had.

guaranteed wk 47 was ~140 pts, so by the time we add 25 points to clear the threshold, the 199 points for week 52 made much more sense. The difference is purchase price (~$7k) would be pretty quickly absorbed over the difference in rack rates for a week 52 room.

We are reviewing the contract now for our guaranteed week 52! Any thing else we should be thinking about or reviewing as the incentives period transitions?

Thanks, all! Maybe soon I can learn how to update my signature with ownership and info

Congrats on your favorite week 52! Do you normal travel at that time of year to WDW? One thing to remember is that the Sorcerer Annual Pass is blocked out for that period. So if you were thinking of getting the annual pass, that is something to consider. I know one of the benefits I am most looking forward to with being a direct purchaser is the cheaper annual pass.

We have traveled during that window, though generally we have done Thanksgiving and Christmas + breaks in new england. We do have annual passes, but we ended up doing incredipass - or whatever the highest tier was for that reason. We are not huge fans of the summer heat, which left us going on peak holiday weeks and new england winter breaks. Too many of those windows were blacked out, so that has been the approach that has worked for us. I suppose the direct desire was mostly driven by access to new resorts and other perks than the annual pass, but that is worth considering. hmm..

 

[crackerjack21]

Anyone think the next round of incentives will "offset" the base price increase? We qualify for military discount which expires end of April, and debating on doing a contract before the price increase or waiting to see what the next round is. We don’t need the points right away so I wouldn’t mind delaying a couple months and not pay dues.

 

[AstroBlasters]

We have traveled during that window, though generally we have done Thanksgiving and Christmas + breaks in new england. We do have annual passes, but we ended up doing incredipass - or whatever the highest tier was for that reason. We are not huge fans of the summer heat, which left us going on peak holiday weeks and new england winter breaks. Too many of those windows were blacked out, so that has been the approach that has worked for us. I suppose the direct desire was mostly driven by access to new resorts and other perks than the annual pass, but that is worth considering. hmm..

Too much?

 

[Cfabar1]

I think I got assigned to someone who walked up to me in the DVC lounge to introduce themselves.

I definitely don’t feel any sort of relationship with them, but I also told them that I am past my point buying days and am more likely to sell points than buy any more. (Which is true)

Ah yes... that's how I got my guide... we were on a cruise ship and he "did me the honor" of becoming my guide after my guide left the company... He's fine, but honestly in 3 guides, he has been the worst...

Anyone think the next round of incentives will "offset" the base price increase? We qualify for military discount which expires end of April, and debating on doing a contract before the price increase or waiting to see what the next round is. We don’t need the points right away so I wouldn’t mind delaying a couple months and not pay dues.

I think the next round will be"offset" but not entirely... I also think that the next round will be relatively weak incentives- they tend to do better incentives when the Florida weather gets hotter and the crowds get lower...

 

[Brian Noble]

Edit: Member services couldn’t do anything, but gave me the number for the sales team who sent me to the voicemail for Kathy who was our guide on the cruise. Hopefully can get settled. Thanks!

Call the sales line again. Tell them if you are unable to speak to a live human Guide by the end of the day Monday, you will rescind your purchase. This assumes that Tuesday is still inside your rescission window.

 

[juliebee]

We have traveled during that window, though generally we have done Thanksgiving and Christmas + breaks in new england. We do have annual passes, but we ended up doing incredipass - or whatever the highest tier was for that reason. We are not huge fans of the summer heat, which left us going on peak holiday weeks and new england winter breaks. Too many of those windows were blacked out, so that has been the approach that has worked for us. I suppose the direct desire was mostly driven by access to new resorts and other perks than the annual pass, but that is worth considering. hmm..

The Sorcerer Pass is only blocked 4 days around Thanksgiving and two weeks around Christmas (Dec 20-Jan 1) in 2026. Week 52 falls in that zone. I just wanted to bring that up in case you hadn't realized it. I believe the Sorcerer Pass is about $500 less per person than the Incredi-Pass. So that is significant. I'm not trying to discourage you from getting that contract, just wanted to point out the annual pass issue for weeks 51 and 52 and Thanksgiving week. Of course, they could change the pass too.

 

[Add-On-Itis]

The Sorcerer Pass is only blocked 4 days around Thanksgiving and two weeks around Christmas (Dec 20-Jan 1) in 2026. Week 52 falls in that zone. I just wanted to bring that up in case you hadn't realized it. I believe the Sorcerer Pass is about $500 less per person than the Incredi-Pass. So that is significant. I'm not trying to discourage you from getting that contract, just wanted to point out the annual pass issue for weeks 51 and 52 and Thanksgiving week. Of course, they could change the pass too.

$560 difference per pass after tax.

 

[Vulnox]

Call the sales line again. Tell them if you are unable to speak to a live human Guide by the end of the day Monday, you will rescind your purchase. This assumes that Tuesday is still inside your rescission window.

Thank you! I heard back from Kathy (cruise guide) and she had me send over my D23 info and said the update to the incentive is being processed. Should be complete shortly. We met with her on Thursday so I believe we still have some time to make sure it all gets cleared as she said.