DVC HELP - Buy direct CCVC or resale ... that is the question

[NewYorkMom]

Alrighty ... I think we are ready to buy into DVC and I am struggling to figure out if we should just buy direct or if we should look into resale. We are FL residents so the annual passholders discount, I believe is the same so that won't be a factor. We are a family of 6 so we need 2-bedroom. I am looking at a minimum of 300 points and we typically travel around September-November but obviously if we were DVC that wouldn't necessarily be the only time we go. There is so much information out there and it's so hard to pick. Anyone willing to give me pros and cons of both and how best to figure out which way to go?

I was set on CCVC, but now I am really questioning if that's the smartest way to go for our family or if we should go resale. We have young children all 10 and under so we have many years left for enjoyment purposes. I do not see any of us being "Disney'd out", but even if we were, we could always use our points through RIC. Any insight from those that currently own and have experience would be greatly appreciated.

 

[disneynutz]

Select the best UY for your vacation patterns.
Buy where you love to stay.
Book at 11 months.
Buy resale if you can.
If you buy additional contracts, keep the same UY and names on deeds.
You can buy a small direct contract later for the perks if necessary.
DVD/DVC marketing can change the perks at any time.
Perks and policies tend to change when management changes.
Expect to spend more on Disney vacations after you buy DVC.

Send me half of your several thousand dollar savings via DIS money!

Bill

 

[NewYorkMom]

Select the best UY for your vacation patterns.
Buy where you love to stay.
Book at 11 months.
Buy resale if you can.
If you buy additional contracts, keep the same UY and names on deeds.
You can buy a small direct contract later for the perks if necessary.
DVD/DVC marketing can change the perks at any time.
Perks and policies tend to change when management changes.
Expect to spend more on Disney vacations after you buy DVC.

Send me half of your several thousand dollar savings via DIS money!

Bill

Thank you for taking the time to respond! Benefits of buying direct vs resale ... are the perks that substantial when buying direct? I know the annual passholders discount is no different than the FL resident discount. Besides that, are there really any others? For example: Can I not buy Tables of Wonderland card for dining discounts?

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

As a FL resident or an AP holder you can buy TIW. AP holders also get virtually the same dining discounts if you didn't purchase TIW - they might even be identical now as they've been aligning things more.

For that large number of points you're potentially looking at several thousands of dollars difference between direct and resale. I'd be hard pressed to recommend direct - especially for a FL resident whom already gets what is the the biggest value perk - the discounted AP.

Have you stayed at any of the DVC properties to know what ones you like?

 

[NewYorkMom]

As a FL resident or an AP holder you can buy TIW. AP holders also get virtually the same dining discounts if you didn't purchase TIW - they might even be identical now as they've been aligning things more.

For that large number of points you're potentially looking at several thousands of dollars difference between direct and resale. I'd be hard pressed to recommend direct - especially for a FL resident whom already gets what is the the biggest value perk - the discounted AP.

Have you stayed at any of the DVC properties to know what ones you like?

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions!! Yes, the grand total price between direct and resale is thousands for the same amount of points, however, depending on the resort and the length of the term left ... the per point cost doesn't seem to be that huge so it's confusing on which is better. I am definitely leaning towards resale, but there are so many resale companies and it's hard to tell which ones best and easy to work with. Thank you for clarifying the FL resident discount - I thought it was pretty close but wasn't sure.

Initially I was looking at MK area, but now I'm also looking at AK as well for the furthest and thinking ... does it "really" matter? All Disney resorts are amazing and you can use your DVC points at all of them, but just have 7 months vs. 11 months (I doubt I can plan that far in advance anyways LOL). The most confusing for me right now is the "UY" and how it'll impact us on resale vs direct. Direct right now is December (I think). In the past, we typically go in the Fall, September-November, however, I'm sure once we are DVC that would change as we would be able to go whenever (if availability allows). Any thoughts on UY? OR questions I should be asking that maybe I'm not thinking of between resale vs direct?

 

[disneynutz]

While a 2-bedroom dedicated unit may be available at 7 months, a 2 -bedroom lock off may not be available at many resorts and you need to decide if you are willing to settle for staying anywhere. Keep reading the posts at the top of the DVC board to learn more. An educated buyer is a happy buyer.

Bill

 

[Dean]

Alrighty ... I think we are ready to buy into DVC and I am struggling to figure out if we should just buy direct or if we should look into resale. We are FL residents so the annual passholders discount, I believe is the same so that won't be a factor. We are a family of 6 so we need 2-bedroom. I am looking at a minimum of 300 points and we typically travel around September-November but obviously if we were DVC that wouldn't necessarily be the only time we go. There is so much information out there and it's so hard to pick. Anyone willing to give me pros and cons of both and how best to figure out which way to go?

I was set on CCVC, but now I am really questioning if that's the smartest way to go for our family or if we should go resale. We have young children all 10 and under so we have many years left for enjoyment purposes. I do not see any of us being "Disney'd out", but even if we were, we could always use our points through RIC. Any insight from those that currently own and have experience would be greatly appreciated.

The benefits are even less for a FL resident. If you were set on that location, compare financially between CCV & BRV giving much less value to the end years. The best $$$ value is SSR, BLT is second when you include dues. AKV will likely be next. Unless you need a fixed week, which doesn't sound likely, I'd never pay retail for CCV or Poly, I might for VGF or VGC. You'll have to decide what that balance is for you. If you want to stay at one resort all the time, it may be worth buying there even if more but if you want to try the resort, I'd never buy a higher cost one. NEVER buy planning to use for RCI. You might want to buy less and try the system. That way if you want to skip Disney a given year, you can use that time to build up points. The best UY if the one that starts just before most of your travel, it sounded like that was August or Sept depending on whether you'd got the Fall holiday or not.

 

[The Jackal]

As a FL resident or an AP holder you can buy TIW. AP holders also get virtually the same dining discounts if you didn't purchase TIW - they might even be identical now as they've been aligning things more.

For that large number of points you're potentially looking at several thousands of dollars difference between direct and resale. I'd be hard pressed to recommend direct - especially for a FL resident whom already gets what is the the biggest value perk - the discounted AP.

Have you stayed at any of the DVC properties to know what ones you like?

They are similar on some things but TIW has more choices and 20% off adult beverages too.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

It is worth noting that your ability to switch at 7 months will be very limited for fall trips. Fall is high demand season for DVC. October and November are months where you are highly likely to stay home resort, with limited choices to change the reservation in any way.

 

[striker1064]

We recently went through this as well. I think the first question to ask yourself is, do you really LOVE CCV, and would you be disappointed if you can't stay there (meaning, it's fully booked at 7 months and you can't switch)? If the answer is yes, buy direct - CCV contracts on resale are rare and are pretty much never worth it.

If you don't love CCV, resale is the way to go.

 

[NewYorkMom]

While a 2-bedroom dedicated unit may be available at 7 months, a 2 -bedroom lock off may not be available at many resorts and you need to decide if you are willing to settle for staying anywhere. Keep reading the posts at the top of the DVC board to learn more. An educated buyer is a happy buyer.

Bill

Thank you! Yes, we would be wanting a dedicated vs. lock-off as our children are young. I'm glad it's easier for dedicated I thought it would've been the other way around. Do you mind me asking, if you are willing to share ... Prior to you buying, what are some of your regrets or possibly answers that you didn't know until after you bought?

 

[NewYorkMom]

The benefits are even less for a FL resident. If you were set on that location, compare financially between CCV & BRV giving much less value to the end years. The best $$$ value is SSR, BLT is second when you include dues. AKV will likely be next. Unless you need a fixed week, which doesn't sound likely, I'd never pay retail for CCV or Poly, I might for VGF or VGC. You'll have to decide what that balance is for you. If you want to stay at one resort all the time, it may be worth buying there even if more but if you want to try the resort, I'd never buy a higher cost one. NEVER buy planning to use for RCI. You might want to buy less and try the system. That way if you want to skip Disney a given year, you can use that time to build up points. The best UY if the one that starts just before most of your travel, it sounded like that was August or Sept depending on whether you'd got the Fall holiday or not.

Thank you so much!! Yes, we would like to buy into DVC to jump around and try different resorts and we are so flexible as far as when we travel so I don't see that necessarily as an issue for us (7 vs. 11 months - as I've never planned that far in advance anyways). I guess the only issue would be if we buy and 2-bedroom villas (dedicated) are extremely hard to come by then we would definitely have to look into booking earlier than later. As far as the UY ... let's say we tend to go in September, you are saying I should look at a UY of August right? BUT, what if we had a UY of say December, but have banked 2017 points ... would the UY matter as much?

 

[NewYorkMom]

They are similar on some things but TIW has more choices and 20% off adult beverages too.

Okay so basically using FL resident to get TiW would be just fine and I wouldn't be losing out from buy resale vs direct?

 

[NewYorkMom]

It is worth noting that your ability to switch at 7 months will be very limited for fall trips. Fall is high demand season for DVC. October and November are months where you are highly likely to stay home resort, with limited choices to change the reservation in any way.

AH good to know ... okay, so if we tend to go in September/October, you are saying it would be hard? So for an example: If we were to buy now and want to book a trip for Sept/Oct in a 2-bedroom, you are saying that would be extremely hard since we are only 5 months or so away from the trip month? If that's the case then it wouldn't really make sense to buy direct right since I don't see us ever using the 11 month advance unless we could easily cancel and not get penalized on our points.

 

[NewYorkMom]

We recently went through this as well. I think the first question to ask yourself is, do you really LOVE CCV, and would you be disappointed if you can't stay there (meaning, it's fully booked at 7 months and you can't switch)? If the answer is yes, buy direct - CCV contracts on resale are rare and are pretty much never worth it.

If you don't love CCV, resale is the way to go.

We don't get disappointed that easily as long as we have a 2-bedroom to stay in during our time, I think we are good to go. I'm assuming all of the resorts are similar in the 2-bedroom and activities offered to the kids since it's Disney so we should be okay there. We've never stayed at AK and I've been looking at different options for resale. It's more comparing the benefits and offers right now through CCV vs a resale property. Decisions ... Decisions!

 

[disneynutz]

Thank you! Yes, we would be wanting a dedicated vs. lock-off as our children are young. I'm glad it's easier for dedicated I thought it would've been the other way around. Do you mind me asking, if you are willing to share ... Prior to you buying, what are some of your regrets or possibly answers that you didn't know until after you bought?

Lock-offs are in short supply because more members want studios and they strip them away from the two bedroom lock-off leaving the one bedroom.

Not selecting our Oct UY, our best UY was a mistake when we first bought. Also not spending time in the different resorts prior to buying was a mistake as was buying BLT prior to it's opening. We didn't think that it mattered where we stayed, we were wrong. Staying at your favorite resort really does add to the experience and when you are spending $300,000 per resort for Disney vacations it makes sense to take the time to buy the best.

Bill

 

[disneyeveryyear]

Thank you so much!! Yes, we would like to buy into DVC to jump around and try different resorts and we are so flexible as far as when we travel so I don't see that necessarily as an issue for us (7 vs. 11 months - as I've never planned that far in advance anyways). I guess the only issue would be if we buy and 2-bedroom villas (dedicated) are extremely hard to come by then we would definitely have to look into booking earlier than later. As far as the UY ... let's say we tend to go in September, you are saying I should look at a UY of August right? BUT, what if we had a UY of say December, but have banked 2017 points ... would the UY matter as much?

The reason the use year would matter in this situation is ability to bank points. Say you book a trip in September of 2018 with your 2017 points (if they haven't been banked), and for some reason you need to cancel. I believe your last date to bank those points would have been 7/31 or 8/1. Yikes, those points go into holding and can only be booked within 60 days. If you book those points into your 2018 UY, and wanted to go this fall, you would be required to "borrow" 2018 points (not the 2017 banked points). If you had to cancel, those points would now be in the 2017 UY and would expire on 11/30/18. I hope this makes sense.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

AH good to know ... okay, so if we tend to go in September/October, you are saying it would be hard? So for an example: If we were to buy now and want to book a trip for Sept/Oct in a 2-bedroom, you are saying that would be extremely hard since we are only 5 months or so away from the trip month? If that's the case then it wouldn't really make sense to buy direct right since I don't see us ever using the 11 month advance unless we could easily cancel and not get penalized on our points.

Yes. I haven't looked specifically at dedicated 2BR, but studio availability from Labor Day to year-end is terrible, which means all the 2BR lock-offs are gone. I doubt availability for dedicated 2BRs is stellar.

You might be able to get Saratoga some weeks, or piece together aggressive split stays. Booking after 7 months is more possible from late January to August, but it is still best to not presume getting the most popular resorts. The opening of Toy Story and Galaxy's Edge is likely to further skew availability in these seasons.

DVC works best booking 11 months out, or at least before 7 months, especially for higher demand periods or resorts. People who weren't booking early December at 11 months have been facing inability to book at all.

There is no point to buying expensive direct/retail points if you won't use the home resort priority attached to the resort being purchased.

 

[piratepride]

We purchased SSR in 2010 because of the price. It was $65 per point thru resale. We have been to Disney several times with our points the last eight years and have never booked and stayed there. We have stayed at GF twice and once each at AK Jambo, BW, Poly, OKW and BLT.

 

[CraigInPA]

Buying resale is more complicated than buying direct retail, but could save you a LOT of money up front. Currently, DVC is selling CCV and Aulani. While CCV is a lovely resort, it's not necessarily the best choice for everyone. You have children who are 10. When CCV expires, they'll be near retirement age. BRV, also at the Wilderness Lodge, expires in 24 years. They'd be in their 30's. BRV resales are typically under $100 a point, so just under half the price of CCV. While it's technically cheaper, per year, to buy CCV direct than BRV resale, that only works if you intend on keeping the contract until the end. Often, we see people selling their contracts in 10-15 years, as children go off to college and their first careers, and the parents decide to travel elsewhere on vacation. Resorts with longer expiration dates work well if you're planning on selling in 10-15 years, as they will still have considerable value compared to a resort expiring in 10 or fewer years.

If you want a 2 bedroom dedicated in the MK area, BLT, GFV, BRV, and CCV are your choices. BLT (my home resort) has the distinction of having a walking path right to the MK. It's also got low maintenance fees, many dedicated 2 bedroom units, and an end date 42 years from now. GFV is significantly more expensive per point, fewer contracts being sold, higher maintenance fees, but it is The Grand Floridian (so, yes, really that nice). Other options with longer expiration dates are AKL and SSR. Both of these are bus-only transportation to the parks, but absolutely beautiful resorts with many 2 bedroom dedicated units. SSR is consistently rated the best DVC value due to the low resale price (for a resort expiring in 37 years) and low maintenance fees. The only 2 bedrooms at the Poly are the bungalows, which require nearly 2000 points for a week long stay.

The mantra for high season (September through mid January) visitors is to buy where you prefer to stay, or at least where you wouldn't mind staying. If you're not a risk taker, choose a resort and buy there. If you're a risk taker, you could buy a a cheaper resort and attempt to book at the 7 month mark. Often, you'll hear SSR owners tout this strategy, which can be effective or a complete frustration (there are long threads here on disboards about how hard "it has become" to book at 7 months).

Use year determines when your annual points are given to you. If you are normally travelling in September or October, you'd want a use year of August or September. The reason you do this is to allow you to be able to bank points that would otherwise be lost if you had to make a last minute cancellation of your normal September/October reservation.

I encourage people to rent points for a stay to see if they like the resort they've chosen. While it's a little late now to book a September/October 2018, if you're not in a hurry to buy, you could stay next year. Begin your planning by contacting a broker about a year before you want to go. That way, the broker may be able to line up an owner with the correct number of points to book exactly at 11 months.

In the mean time, consider how many years you are likely to continue to go to WDW, how much of risk taker you are, and which resort really is "the one" for you.