Torn between DVC direct and resale

[SpicyMcHaggis]

At the prices which exist right now, I can't make direct make sense for me. Even if I really wanted an ownership interest in RIV because I love it there and want to stay there, resale points are almost 50% off compared to direct.

All that being said, if they end up putting RIV on sale anywhere below $175/pp after incentives, I'll almost definitely pick some up. At that point the difference in cost between it and other properties available at resale is small enough that having the benefit of the use of whatever future resorts are built over the next decades would be meaningful enough to me to offset that relatively small difference. Any extra perks would just be a bonus to me at that point.

 

[AwfulWaffle]

For us it’s simple, we are a family of 5 + 1 infant so we will eventually be a family of 6. This means 2BR for us so to buy 2BR worth of points at an actively selling resort that also has higher points charts was going to cost over 20k more a year. It would be cool to visit the lounge or attend a moonlight magic event but not 20k worth of cool so we have 325 resale points and flash our Disney visa for 10% off and came out an easy 20k ahead to be one day used at Epic Universe. Your family needs may be different but for us we just couldn’t get the 2BR numbers crunched down far enough to make sense. And we were looking at direct when they had the flash sale at VGF so it’s even worst now.

 

[Disney Mickey&Minnie Fan]

For us it’s simple, we are a family of 5 + 1 infant so we will eventually be a family of 6. This means 2BR for us so to buy 2BR worth of points at an actively selling resort that also has higher points charts was going to cost over 20k more a year. It would be cool to visit the lounge or attend a moonlight magic event but not 20k worth of cool so we have 325 resale points and flash our Disney visa for 10% off and came out an easy 20k ahead to be one day used at Epic Universe. Your family needs may be different but for us we just couldn’t get the 2BR numbers crunched down far enough to make sense. And we were looking at direct when they had the flash sale at VGF so it’s even worst now.

What was the flash sale price at VGF?
Do you remember how long the time period of the flash sale at VGF lasted?

 

[AstroBlasters]

For us it’s simple, we are a family of 5 + 1 infant so we will eventually be a family of 6. This means 2BR for us so to buy 2BR worth of points at an actively selling resort that also has higher points charts was going to cost over 20k more a year. It would be cool to visit the lounge or attend a moonlight magic event but not 20k worth of cool so we have 325 resale points and flash our Disney visa for 10% off and came out an easy 20k ahead to be one day used at Epic Universe. Your family needs may be different but for us we just couldn’t get the 2BR numbers crunched down far enough to make sense. And we were looking at direct when they had the flash sale at VGF so it’s even worst now.

But you could do 175 resale and then 150 direct as soon as you pass ROFR to get incentives and membership extras…..

 

[davidhr]

One thing to consider is that the difference between resale and direct is less the longer you keep the contract. Resale and direct dues are the same, and after 40 years, a considerable large part of the cost of the contract will be those dues.

I’m perfectly fine with resale for SAP (I’m purchasing resale for that now) or for very specific purposes. For general points, I can’t see myself paying 70% of the contract in expensive dues for restricted points.

You can also argue that the value of the money you pay for the contract today is more than in 40 years. And you’re correct. But if we go that route then DVC doesn’t even make sense as resale.

But I’m also relatively young and, if my health allows it, I expect to be traveling in 40 years.

 

[intamin]

One thing to consider is that the difference between resale and direct is less the longer you keep the contract. Resale and direct dues are the same, and after 40 years, a considerable large part of the cost of the contract will be those dues.

I’m perfectly fine with resale for SAP (I’m purchasing resale for that now) or for very specific purposes. For general points, I can’t see myself paying 70% of the contract in expensive dues for restricted points.

You can also argue that the value of the money you pay for the contract today is more than in 40 years. And you’re correct. But if we go that route then DVC doesn’t even make sense as resale.

But I’m also relatively young and, if my health allows it, I expect to be traveling in 40 years.

Agreed. That's why I find myself pretty much only wanting direct points from here on out. I know opportunity cost is a thing but you're not getting the exact same product with resale. There are other things I can skimp on other than my vacations to regain that opportunity cost. Or hell, maybe I just skip a trip and put the cost of that trip to improving the next 40 years of my other vacations.

Even with really quick napkin math. Going to use Poly just as an example.

Assuming you got Polynesian for 150 dollars per point resale. 150 dollars/42 years + dues (8.23) = 11.80 per point.
8.23/11.80=69.7% of the contract price is coming from dues and that does not take into account any increases in dues. By the end of it you can probably expect probably >75% of your contract price to come from your dues.

I don't know, I just have a hard time knowing I'm only giving myself like a 20% discount on 1/4th of the total cost of a contract and dealing with restrictions on top of it. Obviously if you ONLY care about your home resort, then why spend more on direct? I could also see resale making sense if you think you may end up selling it down the line but even so, I feel like us personally we're done buying resale.

 

[AwfulWaffle]

But you could do 175 resale and then 150 direct as soon as you pass ROFR to get incentives and membership extras…..

We are hopeful we can grab 150 of poly2 but not the end of the world if we can’t justify it. For us we’ll never make a moonlight madness event so the only perk for us is access to restricted resorts. The rest I get with my Disney visa. I was just starting last summer so didnt fully appreciate just how good a deal it was direct. Right now the only resort we will miss a little having access to is CFW but if reflections ever comes back then we will really miss out on that resort so I do hope the starting price after incentives is amazing so we can swing the 30k purchase. Aulani this summer, Copper Creek next Christmas, Boardwalk this past fall. Has been a great purchase so far so another 150 points certainly won’t hurt our family experiences any .

 

[tom1944]

We purchased SSR resale because we felt that direct points were not necessary to take the vacations we wanted to take.

Over the next 30 years we hope to stay at all the unrestricted resorts at WDW with at least one trip to Aulani and Hilton Head.

We figure if we stay at the 11 unrestricted resorts twice and the 2 resorts referenced above that leaves 6 additional stays.

We did not feel we needed the value of direct points to stay at the new resorts that would be built and require a higher number of points.

 

[DebbieB]

Will you stay at Aulani? If not, don’t buy there. Dues are high and the value will drop. If you want to stay at WDW, pick a resort where you can use the 11 month window.

 

[AstroBlasters]

We are hopeful we can grab 150 of poly2 but not the end of the world if we can’t justify it. For us we’ll never make a moonlight madness event so the only perk for us is access to restricted resorts. The rest I get with my Disney visa. I was just starting last summer so didnt fully appreciate just how good a deal it was direct. Right now the only resort we will miss a little having access to is CFW but if reflections ever comes back then we will really miss out on that resort so I do hope the starting price after incentives is amazing so we can swing the 30k purchase. Aulani this summer, Copper Creek next Christmas, Boardwalk this past fall. Has been a great purchase so far so another 150 points certainly won’t hurt our family experiences any .

I am 80% resale and 20% direct…and just added on nearly 600 points resale in the last few months… so I get it!

 

[BamaGuy44]

Buying direct was definitely worth it for us. We were able to stay at the Villas at Disneyland Hotel in February. Wouldn't have been able to if we bought resale.

If we want to stay at the Riviera, or the new Poly Tower - we can, no matter if it's a new association or part of Poly. It's nice peace-of-mind to know we can stay where we want.

We feel that way too, which is why we will probably buy direct next time the incentives are appealing. We really love Riviera, I almost wish we didnt, because then the FOMO would be near 0.

However it's very disappointing to see them transition from the carrot of offering perks with direct, to the stick of locking resale owners out of resorts.

If Poly 2 was going to require direct, it would be a done deal for us. But if the only real "perk" for the foreseeable future is being able to book Riviera, I'm gonna need a solid deal. (Disneyland DVC doesn't move the needle for us)

 

[AwfulWaffle]

If Poly 2 was going to require direct, it would be a done deal for us. But if the only real "perk" for the foreseeable future is being able to book Riviera, I'm gonna need a solid deal.

Same for us to do anything other than a 50 point addon direct. We are okay with slowly working towards 150 if the incentives are anything like they were when CFW went on sale.

 

[Unclelude]

The direct perks have been worth it to us. Moonlight magic has turned out to be one of the coolest perks... We aren't an AP kind of family ... It's great to get access similar to a "Hard Ticket" event every so often. Family of 5 is like a $750 value eh?

DW and I are going in April AK MM for a quick 3 night stay. Doubtful we'd just do that otherwise... What a great long weekend!!

It would have to be a really good deal for me to buy direct again... But, I'm pleased with the perks of direct... Plus you get to learn the secret handshake...

 

[bdrex28]

One thing to consider is that the difference between resale and direct is less the longer you keep the contract. Resale and direct dues are the same, and after 40 years, a considerable large part of the cost of the contract will be those dues.

I’m perfectly fine with resale for SAP (I’m purchasing resale for that now) or for very specific purposes. For general points, I can’t see myself paying 70% of the contract in expensive dues for restricted points.

You can also argue that the value of the money you pay for the contract today is more than in 40 years. And you’re correct. But if we go that route then DVC doesn’t even make sense as resale.

But I’m also relatively young and, if my health allows it, I expect to be traveling in 40 years.

I guess I'm completely different.

The bonuses by going direct just simply are not worth it when we do the math. As stated before if the 10% off is so important then use a Disney Visa or get an annual pass.

I almost bought direct Riviera in March of 2020...but yea, being the start of Covid, we had no idea what would happen and decided against it. We were literally about to sign and decided to back off.

But, I'm so very glad I bought resale.

People mention restrictions, to me the "restrictions" are a pittance for the amount we saved on resale and I'll buy another resale within a year easily. We only go to WDW, don't do cruises and I don't care about a lounge. So if I'm only missing out on booking Riviera (which I do enjoy) and some future hotel they may build in the future. I'm good with that. I am fortunate to have more Hyatt Points than I need and that's the same with Marriott, especially as Marriott keeps merging with others. In fact, we even contemplated just using points at Dolphin or Swan, but they are just so generic that while we've used points to book them both for usually a first night arrival at WDW, it's definitely not my idea of a Disney vacation. I still have a LOT of properties I can book for at a bare minimum of 18 years from now with a resale contract.

I get someone saying; "well the longer you own it the less the difference is". Well, kind of and kind of not. It's still a difference and I still saved a lot of cost and buy in by going resale.

for example:

VGF finished selling direct at around $230 pp

Had I bought 250 pts at that time I'm at roughly $57,500 (can't recall incentives).

Now, if I buy a resale contract for 250 pts I'm at roughly $165 pp for a total of $41,250. And that's if I offer the asking price.

So that's still a $16,000 difference.

Let's say I go once per year and we like to go during Food and Wine and usually do a week. So that would cost me roughly 237 pts at VGF for a week in a 1 BR. Now, I still have to get tickets. So that $16,000 gets me a 7 day ticket for 2 with park hopper (at current price in September of $1,382) for let's say 10 years.

So that' 10 years worth of park tickets (possibly more depending on ticket increases, etc) for the difference in resale vs direct.

Sure, at some point I'll be past the "savings" but that's fine, I still saved $16,000 and missed out on nothing I'd personally miss.

But, if you're someone that wants to do the cruises or Disney Adventures with points, or likes a lounge, etc. then I understand why the value is there by going Direct. But for us, not so much.

 

[intamin]

I guess I'm completely different.

The bonuses by going direct just simply are not worth it when we do the math. As stated before if the 10% off is so important then use a Disney Visa.

I almost bought direct Riviera in March of 2020...but yea, being the start of Covid, we had no idea what would happen and decided against it. We were literally about to sign and decided to back off.

But, I'm so very glad I bought resale.

People mention restrictions, to me the "restrictions" are a pittance for the amount we saved on resale and I'll buy another resale within a year easily. We only go to WDW, don't do cruises and I don't care about a lounge. So if I'm only missing out on booking Riviera (which I do enjoy) and some future hotel they may build in the future. I'm good with that. I am fortunate to have more Hyatt Points than I need and that's the same with Marriott, especially as Marriott keeps merging with others. In fact, we even contemplated just using points at Dolphin or Swan, but they are just so generic that while we've used points to book them both for usually a first night arrival at WDW, it's definitely not my idea of a Disney vacation. I still have a LOT of properties I can book for at a bare minimum of 18 years from now with a resale contract.

I get someone saying; "well the longer you own it the less the difference is". Well, kind of and kind of not. It's still a difference and I still saved a lot of cost and buy in by going resale.

for example:

VGF finished selling direct at around $230 pp

Had I bought 250 pts at that time I'm at roughly $57,500 (can't recall incentives).

Now, if I buy a resale contract for 250 pts I'm at roughly $165 pp for a total of $41,250. And that's if I offer the asking price.

So that's still a $16,000 difference.

Let's say I go once per year and we like to go during Food and Wine and usually do a week. So that would cost me roughly 237 pts at VGF for a week in a 1 BR. Now, I still have to get tickets. So that $16,000 gets me a 7 day ticket for 2 with park hopper (at current price in September of $1,382) for let's say 10 years.

So that' 10 years worth of park tickets (possibly more depending on ticket increases, etc) for the difference in resale vs direct.

Sure, at some point I'll be past the "savings" but that's fine, I still saved $16,000 and missed out on nothing I'd personally miss.

But, if you're someone that wants to do the cruises or Disney Adventures with points, or likes a lounge, etc. then I understand why the value is there by going Direct. But for us, not so much.

I think it makes a big difference if you own at one of the restricted resorts or not. If you're booking VGF primarily just because that's your home resort and you love it, you don't really care. For us who own at Riviera though, only being able to book a 2BR for a week at our home resort every 2-3 years with a 150 pt RIV contract may not be enough. Buying direct on our other home resorts (incoming Poly 2) helps to reduce that strain on that one contract. Yeah, I may not be getting as many points as I could for the same amount of money resale, but I'm also not paying dues on those points in the long run either. If I want to go to VDH, I don't want to have to skip necessarily a year of RIV. Next year we're doing a BIG trip for 5 days in a grand villa and 2 2BRs at Riviera at the exact same time. Part of me wishes my AKV points were direct from when they had that sale awhile back just so I didn't burn through all of our RIV points but here we are lol although these are extenuating circumstances.

I think we can all agree that the upfront difference is large and 10,000 dollars today is worth a lot more than 10,000 dollars in 20 years. But I guess it just depends on if you're willing to compromise on this or not. Obviously you are and you find value in the resale product but for many of us, the difference in cost is worth the difference in product so to each their own.

BTW, the direct price was down to 161 per point after MB for direct over the summer. I forgot what the pricing was before VGF fully sold out but I want to say it was like 180s after MB?

 

[Lionezz]

If you cant wait I also recommend going resale. I would take a resort with long expire date so the contract will hold its value the upcoming 20 years.

If you can wait I would go for poly 2. Current poly has good rent out value, low dues and long expire date (2066). If disney for example extend years to the poly 2 (poly tower) contract it can add 10 dollar in value for each year extended (other values could be blue card, home resort priority or boking priority to resorts being in the trust).

Im also in the camp that thinks dollar is overvalued. I dont know how long it will stay overvalued hopefully not more than 5-6 years When (if?) interest rate goes down the dollar could follow.
Last time i saw dollar this strong is 20 years ago when Bill Clinton was president.
I can today buy a big mac for 3.6$ and a big mac menu for 8$ in sweden. I dont know what the price is for a big mac menu nowadays in Florida but last (50 ?) years it has been cheaper in the US .

We bought beach club after we tried the hotel 20 years ago and thought we found a peace of heaven . I was 25 years old and for the first time I considered children in my life because of the amazing (sanded) pool . Now i have three have children and we have tried many dvc resorts and all are amazing. Its really hard to pick a favourite so we will continue to use our points at different deluxe hotels. We also own grand floridian which i bought resale many years ago when the dollar was 40 % lower than today (20% undervalued).

I recommend long expire date for resale so i think BLT, CCV, VGF or poly is best to buy resale (financially) atm. But since I use my heart (and not my head) myself We are currently in the process of buying a 160 point AKL resale contract (passed ROFR last week)

 

[Sandisw]

I guess I'm completely different.

The bonuses by going direct just simply are not worth it when we do the math. As stated before if the 10% off is so important then use a Disney Visa or get an annual pass.

I almost bought direct Riviera in March of 2020...but yea, being the start of Covid, we had no idea what would happen and decided against it. We were literally about to sign and decided to back off.

But, I'm so very glad I bought resale.

People mention restrictions, to me the "restrictions" are a pittance for the amount we saved on resale and I'll buy another resale within a year easily. We only go to WDW, don't do cruises and I don't care about a lounge. So if I'm only missing out on booking Riviera (which I do enjoy) and some future hotel they may build in the future. I'm good with that. I am fortunate to have more Hyatt Points than I need and that's the same with Marriott, especially as Marriott keeps merging with others. In fact, we even contemplated just using points at Dolphin or Swan, but they are just so generic that while we've used points to book them both for usually a first night arrival at WDW, it's definitely not my idea of a Disney vacation. I still have a LOT of properties I can book for at a bare minimum of 18 years from now with a resale contract.

I get someone saying; "well the longer you own it the less the difference is". Well, kind of and kind of not. It's still a difference and I still saved a lot of cost and buy in by going resale.

for example:

VGF finished selling direct at around $230 pp

Had I bought 250 pts at that time I'm at roughly $57,500 (can't recall incentives).

Now, if I buy a resale contract for 250 pts I'm at roughly $165 pp for a total of $41,250. And that's if I offer the asking price.

So that's still a $16,000 difference.

Let's say I go once per year and we like to go during Food and Wine and usually do a week. So that would cost me roughly 237 pts at VGF for a week in a 1 BR. Now, I still have to get tickets. So that $16,000 gets me a 7 day ticket for 2 with park hopper (at current price in September of $1,382) for let's say 10 years.

So that' 10 years worth of park tickets (possibly more depending on ticket increases, etc) for the difference in resale vs direct.

Sure, at some point I'll be past the "savings" but that's fine, I still saved $16,000 and missed out on nothing I'd personally miss.

But, if you're someone that wants to do the cruises or Disney Adventures with points, or likes a lounge, etc. then I understand why the value is there by going Direct. But for us, not so much.

I definitely agree one should not by for membership extras as those can come and go.

However, the benefit of the Sorverer Pass over an Incredi pass can eat up savings pretty quickly if you have a family of 4 or larger.

It’s about $450 so $1800 in just the first year.

But, giving up restrictions on where to stay is the biggest piece that one really has to be okay with moving forward.

We are fans of RIv …had no idea we would be..so having access to it and future resort is worth the extra it costs to by direct.

We tried owning resale restricted from it, even though we had plenty of points eligible and it didn’t work. It was frustrating not to be able to use them there.

Right now, it’s RIV, VDH, and CFW. But, in 10 years there will be more.

It really is a very individual decision and with DVC being so expensive, one needs to be happy with what they buy!

 

[bama314]

We have mostly resale, but wanted a "blue card". We didn't really need one, but wanted one. In 2021, we decided to buy 125 points at OKW direct to get the "blue card". It was $165/point and 125 was the minimum needed at the time to get the perks. At that time, OKW resale was around $115/point. So, the way I looked at it, the blue card cost us ($165-$115) * 125 = $6250. There's no way that we will recoup that money on discounts, but I was ok with it.

Looking back on it, we really don't care about the perks as much as we thought we would, and don't care about staying in the new resorts. If I could do it over again, I would have spent that $165/point on more BLT resale points or bought a higher number of points at SSR resale.

We bought our first points in 2018 at BLT, via resale. I haven't regretted that, but sometimes think I should have bought cheaper SSR points. We end up swapping resorts inside 7 months most of the time.

 

[Floridian From Afar]

Buying resale is financially more reasonable than buying direct. The only thing financially better than resale would be vacationing somewhere cheaper.
But... if you like going to WDW, and being a member of DVC, I'd consider buying direct points if it's financially feasible for you to do so. If you love the place so much that you plan to vacation there for many years to come, why limit yourself with restrictions? Who knows what another 20, 30 or 40 years will bring? Maybe some amazing new things are on the horizon for DVC, which they are sure to limit to direct members. Or maybe the only thing that you'll have access to are the new hotels coming down the road. Either way, I think the direct purchase MIGHT improve your overall experience as a DVC member.
I don't mean to say that resale owners have a worse experience compared to direct owners. I think it all comes down to each persons own attitude. If you're the type of person who is going to be bothered for the next 30 years that you didn't buy in direct, than just bite the bullet now and get it over with. If you're the type of person who loves nothing more than a good deal, than resale is a no brainer.

 

[jason423]

I think buying resale makes far more sense for most people and certainly for a 1st contract. If anything buy resale to get access to better incentives down the line if you want to one day buy direct. Our family did purchase the minimum to get direct during the VGF firesale. It was worth it to us because the price was cheaper than what resale was at VGF prior to them opening the new building and with the exception of years we visit during Christmas/New Years we can drop down to the Sorcerers pass which is a huge savings. Obviously Disney can pull that at anytime but even if it is just a few years it will eat up a lot of the difference. We also look at the lack of restrictions on that contract as a bonus. Not sure if we will or will not use it at those resorts but it is nice to have as an option. The other "perks" are basically worthless.