100 pt Direct Blue Card Minimum September 17,2019

[Mumof4mice]

I think this post does a good job of illustrating the fundamental differences between different member groups. (Note I chose the word "groups" very carefully, as opposed to classes, levels, etc.) I'm not looking to infer any individual member's thoughts or to paint different member groups with a broad brush, but suffice it to say that people tend to look out for their own interests and advocate for positions that support those interests.

We often see car analogies on here and oftentimes they hit the spot. But I'm going to shy away from that for a minute and go with a different analogy that hopefully does a good job of illustrating at least my perception of the differences between member groups. DVC is like a great steak. I can go to my local butcher and get a nice, grass-fed, pasture-raised, 10oz Filet Mignon for about $20. Or, I can go to the local steak house and order the same steak for $50. The steak is exactly the same. The way I go about acquiring it is completely different. But that doesn't make one way wrong and the other one right. Some people want the quality steak but don't want to pay for it to be prepared and served to them. They don't mind the added inconvenience (think ROFR but for meat) and they end up with a great meal at a lower price. Others don't want to be bothered and just want the steak brought to them ready to eat and then not have to clean up afterward. Neither way is right or wrong and depending on how you view things in general, one way likely speaks to you personally.

Let's bring this back to the post I'm responding to. I completely agree that DVC is a luxury item, but my approach, my mindset even, is completely different than yours. Even if I am spending a lot of money on this purchase, my way of thinking does not allow me to do so in a way that costs more than it otherwise could have. As long as there is resale, I likely won't be buying direct. As long as my butcher is still in business, I'll probably be cooking my own steaks. But I'll concede that while we are enjoying the same exact meal, the guy at the steakhouse is probably having more fun than I am. Just as he would concede that I spent less on the experience than he did. Different strokes for different folks as they say.

Love the steak analogy.

ETA: my butcher dry-ages whole grass-fed, pasture-raised, Filet Mignon/sirloins for me. This is our preferred way to enjoy steak. But on occasion, especially when vacationing at WDW, we'll still order steak!

 

[Jkarrows]

To me it still would not make me buy direct and now its 100 points even less, the benefits of buying direct do not weigh up against the savings on buying resale for someone who can only visit the parks once a year.

The member benefits would only work if you could visit the parks more then once a year every year to get the savings on things like annual passes, member events and food and merchandise savings.

If you live outside the USA like my family and come for 2-3 weeks once a year then it would just not work out buying direct, we would not buy the annual pass as a 2 week pass is so much cheaper, we looked at the 75 points and it just would not work out worth having and now making it 100 points just means if we ever need to top up our points i will be looking again at resale.

I am sure they have upped the points charts due to the extra points now needed to stay at new resorts and 75 points even banked, used and borrowed added up together would only make 225 points every 3 years was not enough for people to think they can stay at RR or any new resort so making it 100 points makes this total now 300 points and offers more choice.

If they really wanted people to move away from resale and look at direct purchase if this is there reason to up the points then I would have gone the other way and said 50 points to entice people to buy direct and get the perks.

After all as everyone keeps saying they are just perks that can and do get removed and changed.

Just my view.

 

[Nie0214]

The thing is, so many perks are also the same perks as being an Annual Passholder...so there’s really no reason to care about direct card even if you visit more than once a year. Yes, you miss out on the AP discount but for my family of 3, that’s what... $500? I saved $7,000 buying our 100 BLT on resale. That’d be 14 years of Annual Passes and I don’t think we’ll get them that often...

 

[Great3]

Just noticed the website has been updated:

Effective September 17, 2019 to obtain a Disney Vacation Club Membership Card, Members must accumulate a total of at least 100 Vacation Points purchased directly from Disney Vacation Development, Inc.

https://disneyvacationclub.disney.go.com/discounts-perks-offers/dining/

Wow, I can't believe they just quietly updated the terms and conditions without any annoncements whatsoever, and with only about 3 days notice.

 

[TheMick424]

Wow, I can't believe they just quietly updated the terms and conditions without any annoncements whatsoever, and with only about 3 days notice.

Does anyone have confirmation that existing blue card holders are grandfathered in, according to the terms that were in place when they purchased their points? What if someone loses their card and needs a replacement? I hope they wouldn’t use this language to deny that request.

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

Well it forced our hand! Just called to purchase our 75 points this morning. Not sad about it either! Told hubby it’s his birthday present.

Woot! What resort?

Heads up, Old Key West (as of my guide this morning) is waitlist only right now. So if you want only 75 before the 17th, your down to Saratoga which is what we just got this morning!!

Woot! I was told Riv, CCV, AUL, or SSR were available.

I've narrowed my choices down to SSR and AUL. I have resale contracts at Poly and BLT, and CCV costs more than the others and is also in the neighborhood I already own in. The Riviera Resort doesn't really interest me, altough neither does SSR.

SSR is cheaper by about 110/year on maintenance fees as of now across the 75 points as well as $2100 cheaper in purchase costs, but it expires 8 years earlier. However, it doesn't really have any home resort advantage and I have two WDW contracts already. I live on the West Coast, so Aulani isn't much farther than WDW for me in flight times or cost. Also, I'm a teacher, so I almost always travel during school vacations, especially summer.

As someone who is leaning towards the hybrid approach and agree that my tipping point is the 75 point mark for cost versus benefit. I don't understand why when it comes to the Blue Card Benefits I primarily see people talk about the discounts and not the rights provided. Is this something that is understood?

I am referring to my understanding that with direct ownership we will be able to use those points at ANY current or future resort. To me this is a bigger deal then anything considering that in 20 years the likes of BCV and BWV will expire leaving those up for Direct Sales again and in that case anyone who bought resale would not be able to use those resorts without owning them (I used them as an example because it would effectively remove Epcot resorts from the table once expired).

Am I wrong in thinking this?

I wonder this too. One thing that potentially interest me is the Disney Collection at Disneyland. I know it's not the most economical use of points, but if I have points, want to go to DL, and CGV is not available, maybe I could stay at Paradise Pier or the DLH on points.

I'm anchored on Riviera right now because for October UY (which is my strong preference to match my 2 resale contracts), there's nothing available direct that can be purchased before the 9/17 deadline except Riviera, Aulani, and CCV. Otherwise I'd be doing SSR or AKV all day. We're not very interested in CCV, and the CCV direct price is (I think) $210 which makes it a non-starter for me. I'm starting to gain momentum towards taking the plunge on 75 points at RIV but I'm not sure I'll make it over the goal line.

Yeah, I'm in a similar position, although I was told SSR was available. I just don't like that it expires in 2054 and my other two resale contracts (bought before the Jan '19 restrictions) expire in 2060 and 2066. The one good thing Riviera has it that it would expire last of the three, so I'd have the direct benefits the whole time.

In short, I'm down to "most economical but no real home-resort benefit" vs. "costs a bit more, but the booking window could be useful."

 

[dropd]

Woot! I was told Riv, CCV, AUL, or SSR were available.

What use year(s) did they offer you for SSR?

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

What use year(s) did they offer you for SSR?

October

Actually, looking back at the email thread, it doesn't say, and later he mentioned December. SSR may not actually be an option for me right now.

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

I think I need to just...not add on though. The blue card FOMO is real, but I don't think I just just rush into it because the minimum is going up.

Le sigh. *Grumble grumble...
Responsibilities...grumble grumble*

 

[JungleCrews]

Love the steak analogy.

ETA: my butcher dry-ages whole grass-fed, pasture-raised, Filet Mignon/sirloins for me. This is our preferred way to enjoy steak. But on occasion, especially when vacationing at WDW, we'll still order steak!

It really is a good analogy, but we hand-raised and fed our beef growing up and my mind kept trying to tie that personal experience into this. The whole ranch-to-table thing was quite horrifying for me as a child, I eat a lot of veggies these days.

 

[wehrengrizz]

Le sigh.

This made my day. Especially if it's quoting what I think it is.

 

[LSchrow]

The thing is, so many perks are also the same perks as being an Annual Passholder...so there’s really no reason to care about direct card even if you visit more than once a year. Yes, you miss out on the AP discount but for my family of 3, that’s what... $500? I saved $7,000 buying our 100 BLT on resale. That’d be 14 years of Annual Passes and I don’t think we’ll get them that often...

The difference between a Gold AP (with 2 weeks blocked for Easter & 2 weeks for Christmas) and General Public Platinum AP is $447.30. That's a $1341 savings for 3 people every year, which makes breakeven at a bit over 5 years (not taking into account any other Blue Card discounts, perks, etc). And after those 5 years, you would likely continue to save for the 35 years remaining on contract, or almost an additional $47,000. Of course, if you don't need/want an AP, resale is the better value - this is just the other side of the coin

 

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

Woot! What resort?

SSR! Our other two homes are BRV and AKL but we just wanted lowest entry price for this purchase. Signed the documents this morning!!! Then celebrated with ice cream!!!

 

[What_13th_floor?]

I think @ScubaCat 's thought questions are important. FOMO is emotional and not really rational, so trying to reason yourself out of FOMO might not work.

Also - I would not think about renting out points to "break even" or "pay for" your purchase. You're thinking of buying in to DVC because you like vacationing at Disney and you don't want to stay in a value or stay in a moderate when you can get "deluxe" or "deluxe-adjacent" accommodations for roughly the same price. So every time you rent out your points for the $, that is a night or a trip you are not taking to Disney, which is the whole reason why you bought in the first place!

Finally - here's a little reasoning that might help - what are the actual direct member perks that can be assigned a $ value, that we have used in the last 2+ years, over 6 trips and 38 nights? (not all stays on my own points; some on rented points, some at Swan/Dolphin):

2 years of Platinum + APs for the price of gold - x 3 people = 6 passes
technically - it would be ~$300-400 per pass = $1800-$2400 (approx; I am too lazy to look up historical prices)
But we have not been to the water parks, so maybe it's worth less than that because we could have just gotten platinum passes.

3 discounted tickets to MNSSHP: total savings of about $60 - $90

2 discounted tickets to HS after hours: 2x$30 = $60

We have Tables in Wonderland, so we don't really use the DVC discounts on food (plus since we have APs, we also have the AP discount).

Merchandise discount = let's assume $1000 in purchases (probably way overestimating) = $100 saved at a 10% discount.

total actual savings = $2650, MAX.

Oh, and we've been to the member lounge at Epcot once. Kids had a fruit punch and adults had coffee. Meh.

Our 25 point direct purchase cost about $4600 total. So we haven't recouped the total cost of the 25 direct points yet. But we actually needed the points, so if you only assume the cost is the "upcharge" for buying those points direct, that upcharge would only be close to "breaking" even with a 25 point direct purchase with 2017 prices because of the crazy P+AP for the price of gold deal they had going on.

Each year going forward we will save about $200 per pass. That's a lot of passes.

Thanks for the input.

I think we have ultimately decided against buying direct. We can’t use the AP’s and to get the most out of the discounts we would just spend more money which is what they want. What I also looked at was how much we would realistically vacation for the next 25 years (until I’m 65) and taking into account putting our kids through college and all that and I can’t see spend $6k for what amounts to guaranteeing our future vacations costs as being prudent. I’m going to take my time and find the cheapest contract with the points we want to the resort we want and be happy.

As I’ve read somewhere else on these forums, when it comes to resale the places you can stay are written into the contracts so at least we’ll know they can’t take those away from us.

 

[RhettsMom]

SSR! Our other two homes are BRV and AKL but we just wanted lowest entry price for this purchase. Signed the documents this morning!!! Then celebrated with ice cream!!!

I bought 75 points this morning at CCV. I haven’t received anything to sign yet. I did get the email with my activation code, but it said my membership number will be sent with my contract. Should I have already signed something? I paid in full over the phone, not sure if that has something to do with it since there’s no financing involved. ?

 

[skier_pete]

The difference between a Gold AP (with 2 weeks blocked for Easter & 2 weeks for Christmas) and General Public Platinum AP is $447.30. That's a $1341 savings for 3 people every year, which makes breakeven at a bit over 5 years (not taking into account any other Blue Card discounts, perks, etc). And after those 5 years, you would likely continue to save for the 35 years remaining on contract, or almost an additional $47,000. Of course, if you don't need/want an AP, resale is the better value - this is just the other side of the coin

The assumption here is that they continue to give Gold Members the benefit. This benefit only appear fairly recently, it could also go away.

However, I agree that this is the ONE benefit that makes consideration of a direct contract worth it. We've used the AP benefit twice now. We get one essentially every other year and travel according to the AP. (Took 4 trips on an AP from Nov 2017-Oct 2018, Now we are going to take at least 3 trips on APs from Oct 2019-Oct 2020. So the first trip we paid roughly $575 for 26 days in the parks. They jacked the price recently but we should get another 20 days in the parks for $699 so still only around $35 a day - and that's assuming we don't add another trip which we just might. Now without the DVC/AP benefit we probably wouldn't go as often - so if I am honest with myself I am probably spending MORE at Disney because of it than less, BUT we are getting much more for our money than we would without the benefit.

We were lucky enough that we bought in before the resale restrictions were in place - but I would definitely be considering a small direct contract for this benefit if I had bought in after the restrictions. However, the more they push the point requirement, the less likely I would. I probably would still do it at 100 points, but probably not at 150 points.

Beyond that, I don't think any benefits really make a direct purchase "worth it" financially. That isn't saying you shouldn't choose the direct route - that's everyone's choice. But from a value standpoint resale is still the better value.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I bought 75 points this morning at CCV. I haven’t received anything to sign yet. I did get the email with my activation code, but it said my membership number will be sent with my contract. Should I have already signed something? I paid in full over the phone, not sure if that has something to do with it since there’s no financing involved. ?

They fedex the documents to you.

 

[Matty B13]

I was just reading the fine print on the DVC website, are members with 25 direct points still grandfathered into member benefits???? or do you have to have 100 points now, no matter what?

 

[RhettsMom]

They fedex the documents to you.

That’s what I though, thank you! I thought the previous poster purchased points this morning and signed today as well, I must have misinterpreted the post!

 

[ScubaCat]

I was just reading the fine print on the DVC website, are members with 25 direct points still grandfathered into member benefits???? or do you have to have 100 points now, no matter what?

They grandfather everyone in based on what they qualified for previously. However, if you sell that 25 point contract, you'll have to join the 100 points direct club to re-qualify.