I am sure this topic has been posted and discussed many times over. I know. Forgive me. I’m on the precipice, and I know you all will have some insights for me.
I have been thinking about buying into DVC for years. Even signed once about 10 years ago with DVC but cancelled in the 10-day period. I recently decided to try to buy resale. I am not currently a member.
I thought hard about what matters most to me and what I want, and eventually I decided to try for Poly or GF on the resale market (because I love the resorts and locations, due to the longer years on the deed–also, I think they may hold value better over time than some others). Anyway, I started bidding on the resale market a couple of weeks ago. Looking for a deal in the supposed buyers market, and I’m not particularly in a rush. On my 6th offer, I finally got a bite and have what I think is a decent opportunity to purchase a 140-pt resale contract at GF.
I suddenly became aware that I could evidently purchase direct for 150 points with Magical Beginnings and get money back for 2022 points. And I hear members (one of you?) could “refer” me to DVC for another $500 off, plus an additional incentive off the price, and basically if I buy direct at 150 points, I get 10 more point and blue card status for about $4000 more than the resale I was considering…
I intend to pay cash for the purchase, so financing is not an issue. I am leaning toward the direct purchase because it will be over and done easily and quickly, and because I think it will bug me not to have “full” membership benefits.
Am I crazy to pay $4000 for 10 points and the blue card status?
Where would you buy those 150 points? Will you still buy GFVs (same amount of years)? Do you think you would want to ever stay at Riviera or the new DLR? (The 4k might be worth it to use points at DLV?)
Oh! Yes, one of us could email you a link and the owner would get a gift card for the referral.
Yea, I would still buy GFV. I like staying everywhere at least once, but GF is my fave. And I don’t like the idea of restrictions, in case I want to go to Riviera or DLR. But it wouldn’t kill me either.
I know “worth it” is subjective. What do any of you like most about being blue card members?
I buy the Sorcerer annual pass. It is the one benefit I use, The DVC and AP discounts are the same, but I don’t know if I would have any discounts without the ability to buy the sorcerer, since I don’t think I would buy an incredi-pass.
I really like the flexibility of knowing I can stay anywhere I want. I don’t know if I will book Riviera or DLV but I can and most likely I will want to try FW at some point.
If you are buying GFV regardless and it really is only $4,000 more for direct, that may very well be worth it.
Benefits of direct:
Sorcerer Pass discounts (about $400/person/year savings off Incredipass)
Ability to book all resorts (including Riviera and new Disneyland Hotel villas)
Ability to attend special events like Moonlight Magic, new ride previews, special cruises, etc. (some events / previews may require an additional charge)
~10% dining and 20% merch discounts (varies by location) – may be duplicative of AP benefits
Additional benefits may be added (and some can be removed) at any time.
Personally, I’ve done the math several times and I can never get the benefits to be worth the additional expense vs. resale for me. For one, I bought at Saratoga Springs, so my points are much cheaper than direct. I am ok not being able to book Riviera and DLH. I don’t go to WDW often enough to justify Sorcerer Passes for more than just myself, so it’s not much additional savings. And since I have an AP, I will get similar dining and merchandise discounts. Also, I live too far away for the special events to be lucrative.
I think the discount is 10% at table service (that participate) and 20% on merchandise. (Including things like $5 items in the stores or bottles of water in the resort stores).
That’s correct – sorry I was researching at the same time I wrote the above and forgot to clarify. I noted there are a couple of locations where dining discounts are higher – 15 or 20% – but that is very rare. And some shops do not accept merch discounts.
Certain times of year, they sometimes up the merch percent off to 30% as well. Not often though.
As far as if it is worth it…it really depends on a lot of factors. For us, also buying from SSR resale, the amount we saved far exceeds what benefits we might get by becoming a blue card member.
I’d look at how many points you get today on the resale contract vs. the direct contract. For example, if they are giving you 2022 and 2023 use year points on the direct contract and the resale contract only has 2023 UY points, there is a big benefit there.
Personally, for 150 points, I would absolutely buy direct for an increase of $4,000.
Did you change your profile name? I recognize your avatar from a different user name which I will not say in case you’re trying to cover your trail. (Always possible it could be a new person with the same picture.)
I would say the extra money is as much about access to the new resorts as it is the perks. Especially for a resort with a long contract.
Everything built after the Poly is going to have resale restrictions. That means that after a time, and especially when the 2042 go offline, people with resale will have way fewer places they can book than people with direct. This will put more pressure on those resorts that everyone can book (especially because many of them are lower point required) making them harder to get at 7 months.
I want Poly points and I go back and forth between more points resale or fewer points direct, but with this benefit.
Edit: right now we know Riviera, DLT, and FW. Who knows what’s next down the road.
Has this been confirmed? I’ve heard speculation about this but nothing concrete. I mean, it’s possible Disney could extend the existing properties and not treat them as a new resort, isn’t it? i.e. Disney could keep Beach Club 2.0 in the group that is bookable by resale owners, even if it’s refurbished with a completely new set of contracts / owners? (Like they’ve done with the new GFV.)
I imagine the resale market will be damaged if a refreshed resort takes the inventory out of the general pool. And a damaged resale market is not good for direct owners, or for Disney, either.
In any case, as an owner it is best to assume you will only be able to book your home resort and be pleasantly surprised if it’s anything else.
That would be an interesting poll- who thinks Disney will extend those resorts. Or all the different option. I wonder who sees the future in their crystal ball?
All I know is I have a contract through 2054 at SSR. I am not sure if I will end up wanting the contact that long. But by then I may or may not be allowed booking anywhere else!
This is definitely the truth, but I think you will have more flexibility if you buy direct because no matter what happens, you will have more options. I don’t regret buying resale.
As to 2042;
I think they will sell off Vero Beach and Hilton Head.
I think Old Key West will be extended - its a mess
I think they will flip BWV and BCV and make them brand new, new point chart, new restrictions
I don’t know what they will do with BRV - hard for them to increase the point chart greater than CCV
All this feedback is so helpful. Reading the disboards is a bit like bizarro world because people there appear to constantly be buying $30,000+ contracts because they “can’t resist.” That’s not my life! Anyway, I already have an AP (had an incredipass before the recent new release), so i already have some of those benefits. For buying direct, I mostly feel like I don’t want to leave benefits on the table, whatever they may be. Not necessarily rational. I know.
When I was last in WDW in Feb, I did meet with a guide at GFV and asked him to sell me on why to buy direct. He didn’t have much to say, I thought. He was a bit disingenuous too because he was saying you get more years buying direct. But that’s not true if you buy the same resort resale, and he couldn’t wow me with merch discounts because i already got those with my AP.
I just need to accept or reject the resale offer I negotiated, so I feel rushed but uncertain. Maybe that means I say no to that. Another one will come along, if I choose resale ultimately.
If you get an August, September, October, or December use year, you will get 2022 and 2023 points direct. Most likely resale you will be lucky to get all,of the 2023 points. That is why the guide is telling you you’ll get more points.
Ahh, that could be it, but he was saying “50 years” which at the moment caused me to believe I would get 50 years from purchase on any direct contract. Anyway, I understand now! And the resale contract actually has more than half the 2022 pts on it still (Dec UY), so it’s a good value in terms of being fairly loaded.