I feel like I'm beating a dead horse here, but I'm going to keep bringing it up. That discount has been that large for about 3 months. It hasn't always been that large, and planning on it being that large for even 1 year much less 5 or more years is ludicrous.
2 years ago we got that Plat Plus pass for 559 dollars. 3 months ago the difference between the Gold AP and Plat was like half the current discount. Ticket prices have gone up significantly over the last 2 years and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Spending thousands of dollars now for something you a) might not even use, b) could go away at any time is foolish.
I don't think you're beating a dead horse, but you're talking past others and perhaps not understanding their view. For a family of 5, the difference of $220 * 5 = $1100 now because they'd have to otherwise purchase a platinum pass. That's not one year from now, not 10. That's how much I would save today buying direct and the gold annual pass. That means the membership premium on 75 points can be had for as little as $2000 - we're not talking about buying the entire thing direct.
Everyone here understands that the membership benefits aren't guaranteed. Heck, even Moonlight Magic is pretty random and has a head count limit. But is it worth the risk of $2000? Do we want to roll the dice that in 50 years time, we'll get our $2000 back? For a lot of us, that's a yes. It may not work for you, we understand that. So we get YOUR point, that YOU don't want to buy direct. But try seeing it from ours. Look at it as a $2000 insurance policy on our $20,000 DVC spend. If it materializes, great it pays off. If the rules change down the road and we get perks, wonderful. If it doesn't..well truth is we were probably going to do it anyway.
The reality is that this thread isn't for those who are asking - should I buy direct? This thread is for those who were already leaning over the fence, or were planning on this strategy at a later date anyway to inform them that - Hey, there's literally hours left (at this point) if you want to keep yourself from spending even more.
There are those who don't want direct, yourself included. You won't be persuaded and won't miss a thing. Then those who do want direct, are just looking for a justification to make the final leap. Whether that's the soft sell on the events, or hard numbers. The truth is we're just looking for enough people to say - yes you're not crazy, or if you are; so am I before we jump in. Once enough penguins are in the water...we'll think it's safe and sane and then we'll go as well. Then half of those will think it's the best thing ever, the other half will regret it.