Direct vs Resale?

[CarolynFH]

And DVC DLR - approved!

Thanks to mod from DLR thread

DVC DLR
https://dvcfan.com/2020/07/27/dvc-show-disneyland-hotel-dvc-tower-plans/

That’s the approval from the city planning committee. The city council still needs to approve - supposedly scheduled for today or tomorrow, but: https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...on-including-room-plans.3807808/post-62171343

 

[CastAStone]

Hello! I keep going back and forth on direct vs resale- we are a family of 5. I was thinking the annual pass discount is pretty significant. What are your thoughts?

This:

Just don't buy until the AP comes back for sure. You can't buy them right now and there is always a way outside chance they don't bring it back.

They can revoke whatever benefits they want at any time. Assuming you only buy the 100 direct points you need to get the benefits, you will pay between $6000 and $10000 more, so if you get Gold passes instead of non-discounted Platinum ones you will pay it back in 3-5 years. Will the discount come back? Will the ability to buy Gold passes come back? If it does, will it stay what it is for 3-5 years? Who knows. I tend to believe that they will keep Gold AP access (someone correct me if I am wrong but I believe access to a pass that is otherwise only open to Florida residents has been a direct benefit since the 1990s) but there are no guarantees.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

If the proposed DVC at DLR has AP benefits to DLR -- we'd kick the tires on 100 pts over resale at VGC.

Yes, that $20 off a DLR AP is worth direct pricing.

 

[dvc lover 1970]

Hello! I keep going back and forth on direct vs resale- we are a family of 5. I was thinking the annual pass discount is pretty significant. What are your thoughts?

Tough call. If you think you will use the AP discounts it might be worth it. We do use the AP discounts and the dvc lounge in epcot but other than that we dont make use of any benefits. However I am not sure if the discount justifies direct. Also keep in mind perks can change at any time.

 

[montreid]

Yes, that $20 off a DLR AP is worth direct pricing.

Didn't even know it was available since we resale. Needs to be a bit more substantial to get locals to buy. With that many studios; it's going to need a lot or pricing aggressively to compete with GVC resales to get sold out. 250+ studios is a lot.

 

[Fred M]

However, and I know the general consensus on these boards is that this is ridiculous, a big part of why we bought direct is that I don't want to feel like a second class citizen. It's just my personality and nature. I knew from the get go that if a "blue card" existed I wouldn't be happy with a "white card". Dumb? Probably. Real? Yes. So it's quite possible that we gave more weight to benefits in order to justify it - but it worked for us.

When my wife and I first bought DVC for Aulani, we didn't have a clue about resale. When we added on at Copper Creek, knowing full well about resale, we still bought direct because of this same issue--not wanting to miss out. We were content with our DVC purchase until they announced the new DVC tower at Disneyland. Time to start saving!

 

[Minniesgal]

The longer we have our DVC the less time we spend in the parks. We wouldn't buy an annual pass anymore.

Direct prices are so high I find it hard to justify anything other than resale.

 

[Disney Mom 7272]

My husband and I are having the same discussion tonight about direct versus resale. We do not need the AP discount because we only come down once a year. Are the other blue card perks worth the price of direct? Do they physically give you a white card to show that you are a DVC member? Do you get treated differently if you are a white card member instead of a blue card member (it may a be a silly question but I was Just wondering). Need help deciding what to do

 

[3 DD love princesses]

My husband and I are having the same discussion tonight about direct versus resale. We do not need the AP discount because we only come down once a year. Are the other blue card perks worth the price of direct? Do they physically give you a white card to show that you are a DVC member? Do you get treated differently if you are a white card member instead of a blue card member (it may a be a silly question but I was Just wondering). Need help deciding what to do

Moonlight magic you need a blue card.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Didn't even know it was available since we resale. Needs to be a bit more substantial to get locals to buy. With that many studios; it's going to need a lot or pricing aggressively to compete with GVC resales to get sold out. 250+ studios is a lot.

Yes, they've had the $20 off of the most expensive DL AP's for a long time. It does not apply to the Flex pass or any local AP's. Even in FL the best that DVC members get is the equivalent of the more expensive FL resident pass (Gold). Residents have access to other less costly AP's. It will never happen that DVC will offer a DL AP discount that is better than what the locals get. At best it might be the same but definitely not better.

 

[Lorana]

Are the other blue card perks worth the price of direct?

For me, aside from AP discounts and Moonlight Magic and special member events, and the dining and shopping discounts if you don't have access to them elsewhere, the biggest direct benefit is the ability to use the points at Riviera and future resorts. If you're in it for the long haul, eventually there will be multiple resorts resale points can't be used at.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Do you get treated differently if you are a white card member instead of a blue card member (it may a be a silly question but I was Just wondering). Need help deciding what to do

Most won't even know if you have a full benefits or not. It's only to book certain events like moonlight magic or to get the small discounts on retail or dining where it's given. It has nothing to do with the rooms or booking windows etc. The moonlight magic events are relatively new and it's hard to say how long they'll be around. It's also something that if you aren't planning a trip at the time one occurs then you'll never experience the benefit. Honestly I'd prefer one of the paid ticket events that you can plan for on a regular trip and that has lower attendance. The rest are small discounts and it would take a lot of .40 discounts off of t-shirts to make up the direct/resale price difference. That leaves AP discount which you might recover the difference but it means more than one trip a year or a single long trip and there's more value if you have a big family at home.

 

[sethschroeder]

I believe access to a pass that is otherwise only open to Florida residents has been a direct benefit since the 1990s

Disney could possibly go to a limited AP option that in the future has to reserve park days while day tickets don't require a reservation. Who knows what happens in the future. Have said in the past I would pay more if it absolutely guaranteed low park crowds.

It has nothing to do with the rooms

Just wanted to say there is the limitation on booking Riviera but that is a points thing. CMs are not going to give you a better room at VGF because you are blue card member or not. Honestly I don't think it would even be allowed to be treated differently. If its open to white/blue cards then both have to be treated equally (at least today).

 

[EYL]

Hello! I keep going back and forth on direct vs resale- we are a family of 5. I was thinking the annual pass discount is pretty significant. What are your thoughts?

Before we bought in, we debated on this as well. Our thoughts were that the annual pass discount is a predicted savings in the most ideal circumstances, but the savings you get buying resale is an actual savings now. We predicted on spreading out our annual pass through 2 visits and buying every 3 years. But if something comes in the way and we have to skip a year or two (like this pandemic) or if my kid decides not to join us in the future, it'll just throw that number way off. We also predicted the savings off the life of our contract, which for PVB is until 2066. Although everyone would love to hold onto their contracts until the end, realistically, I'm not 100% sure I will.

At the end we bought resale for the actual savings and then the minimum direct (75 points at that time) to appease our FOMO. Good luck on your decision!!

 

[SG131]

My husband and I are having the same discussion tonight about direct versus resale. We do not need the AP discount because we only come down once a year. Are the other blue card perks worth the price of direct? Do they physically give you a white card to show that you are a DVC member? Do you get treated differently if you are a white card member instead of a blue card member (it may a be a silly question but I was Just wondering). Need help deciding what to do

I'm a white card member, and no one treats me differently. The AP discount would be nice, but the math didn't work out to be worth the benefit. If Copper Creek had still been selling at the discounted price when I bought I may have done direct there since the math would have worked out a little differently, but the sold out prices are just so high and I won't touch Riviera with it's resale restrictions.

As far as moonlight magic goes, prior to covid messing everything up anyway, I had 2 stays booked this year for a total of 16 or 17 nights. Neither ended up overlapping with a moonlight magic event. So if I would have wanted to attend I would have had to change my reservation. I'm not sure when the August dates were released, but Feb was announced too late notice that I would have had to switch resorts too. That made me feel better about missing out. And who knows when or if these events will return.

I have been to the Epcot lounge once with a friend and it is nice, but I'd have to drink a lot of coke freestyle to make up for the thousands of extra dollars. The math is a little different for each person based on number of family members and how frequently you go, so it's worth running the numbers and see how many years of AP discounts you would need to break even.

 

[Lorana]

Before we bought in, we debated on this as well. Our thoughts were that the annual pass discount is a predicted savings in the most ideal circumstances, but the savings you get buying resale is an actual savings now. We predicted on spreading out our annual pass through 2 visits and buying every 3 years. But if something comes in the way and we have to skip a year or two (like this pandemic) or if my kid decides not to join us in the future, it'll just throw that number way off. We also predicted the savings off the life of our contract, which for PVB is until 2066. Although everyone would love to hold onto their contracts until the end, realistically, I'm not 100% sure I will.

At the end we bought resale for the actual savings and then the minimum direct (75 points at that time) to appease our FOMO. Good luck on your decision!!

This is an important distinction to look at, predicted vs actual.

I'll also provide a slightly different perspective on predicted vs actual. In all honesty, I love *actual* savings. It's why the majority of my points are resale. That being said, some of my decisions are based on *predicted* savings. And part of that is because much as I'd like to think my financial situation will be the same (or better) ten years from now, one never really knows -- if you had asked me in 2004 if I had expected to be in the dire financial straits I was in from 2006 to 2010, I would've been so wrong in my answer.

While predicted savings aren't something you should expect to always have, they are an important consideration. We bought some of our points direct because we had the money now to enable us to do so, and the predicted savings mattered: we want to reduce our annual burden of owning DVC, while still getting what we want. So while we didn't go the complete cheapest route - ie, getting SSR (though we did get some resale SSR for SAP points and low dues), we avoided Vero Beach, Aulani and Riviera specifically because of the dues. VB we considered very strongly - the actual savings is huge. We made an offer on a 200-point contract for $56 per point which was accepted, but then decided not to go through with it, because the annual dues are $10.13 and decided instead to get a contract at BRV (a resort we love). That difference in dues per year is almost $600 per year, while the immediate savings was $7600. While the math would show I'd need nearly 13 years of ownership to make up the difference in upfront savings, one thing I consider is that I don't know how my financial situation would change, and that striking a balance between upfront savings and long-term savings is important to me, because I won't care how much I saved upfront if I'm facing a dues bill that is too high in a year that I don't have money. (Yes, I know that logic says that I've that $7600 in savings/investments to draw upon, but if I invest it and the same thing that puts me in dire financial straights also destroys my investments, well... ).

Not that you should always plan for the worst situation, but it is something that I weigh, as I want my annual burden between dues and tickets to be low. This might also reveal way too much about how I look at finances, but I do obsess quite a bit on how much I spend and save with every paycheck, as I break every annual expense down to a cost per paycheck and transfer them into savings to pay them when they come due. Which means how much I pay per paycheck for dues and passes is something that matters to me as well, as I try NOT to rely on emergency savings and investments whenever I can these days so that I have them for emergencies (like now, when I'm suddenly faced with having to replace my HVAC).

 

[RoseGold]

I just noticed your signature, and love it.

Someone has to represent white card!

Assuming old pricing and old AP tiers, which is a big assumption... If you only go once a year, staggering your AP to every other year makes the AP discount useless. All you have to do is go April one year, March the next. TiW is $100/party for the dining (which I got with white card) and a Disney Visa can get almost all of the rest.

That leaves discounts on spas and golf, and tours, I guess. There are some restaurants that give AP discounts, but not AP, or Visa and not DVC. The chart is a mess, and I wouldn't spend thousands of dollars on that.

 

[LoveMugsNPins]

but I do obsess quite a bit on how much I spend and save with every paycheck, as I break every annual expense down to a cost per paycheck and transfer them into savings to pay them when they come due. Which means how much I pay per paycheck for dues and passes is something that matters to me as well, as I try NOT to rely on emergency savings and investments whenever I can these days so that I have them for emergencies (like now, when I'm suddenly faced with having to replace my HVAC).

Hold up!! Did I write this?? I do the same thing weekly! I have 12? I think separate accounts in my Capital One account. Money goes in each week automatically for the specific things. Christmas/Birthdays PET EXPENSES!! (this one is my favorite. Its so nice not to have to worry about paying a vet when a pet gets sick) DVC dues (and I haven't even finished buying my first contract yet!!! HAHAHA)
The list goes on but OMG, I just got a little giddy reading what you wrote! Big ole virtual hug for the savers of the world! obsessive savers?

 

[Lorana]

Hold up!! Did I write this?? I do the same thing weekly! I have 12? I think separate accounts in my Capital One account. Money goes in each week automatically for the specific things. Christmas/Birthdays PET EXPENSES!! (this one is my favorite. Its so nice not to have to worry about paying a vet when a pet gets sick) DVC dues (and I haven't even finished buying my first contract yet!!! HAHAHA)
The list goes on but OMG, I just got a little giddy reading what you wrote! Big ole virtual hug for the savers of the world! obsessive savers?

Solidarity! And yes huge virtual hugs!
Yes, that’s so me - I have many different savings accounts for different purposes - from regular expenses to gift savings even for “summer BBQs” — so that I can manage expenses and ensure I’m saving for college, retirement, investment and emergency funds, too. I don’t have a separate one for pets though - it’s bundled in emergency - but now you’re making me go, hmmmm, should I separate these out some more? ;-).

I have now also separated out “DVC Dues and APs” from the Vacation Funds account, and am trying to decide if I’m going to start putting some extra in for Reflections if it ever gets built (we used what we were saving for Reflections to buy two fixed weeks at CCV with the new incentives since it seems Reflections is on hold), or if we might just sell an existing contract for it.

I also maintain shared Spreadsheets to track things - like, I even have one that estimates lifespan of everything for the home (ranging from roof to appliances), estimated cost, and when they were last replaced. LOL.

Thus I also have one for DVC with multiple worksheets, tracking all our DVC expenses - both to track to break even but also how much we save on accommodations, passes, etc. also to estimate dues and track reservations and which points are used.

 

[LoveMugsNPins]

I also maintain shared Spreadsheets to track things - like, I even have one that estimates lifespan of everything for the home (ranging from roof to appliances), estimated cost, and when they were last replaced. LOL.
.

Daaaammmmnnn! That is hard core!!!! #nerdgoals

Now I am trying to think of what new accounts I need but I have hit a point where I need to spend some of the money I have saved up!