Have you ever seen DVC direct prices decrease before?

[SouthPhilly]

My comparison room was the Art of Animation family suite, which went up WAY more than I calculated. The room that didn't was Swolphin. I probably would have been better mathematically there. DVC will never be a cheap option. It might be cheap-er than some other very expensive options.

Right now, point rentals have not caught up to price increases. I'd argue renting points is smarter mathematically, as is Swolphin. Depends on what your goals are and why you are buying.

And do you want to go for a week with no APs?

It didn't seem cost effective to have an AP unless we were going for 11+ park days in the year, I believe an adult 7-day w/ hopper was $720

 

[SouthPhilly]

Also - thank you all for the helpful posts.

 

[SouthPhilly]

I'm gonna sing that old familiar song, "Buy Where You Really Want To Stay."

RoseGold and others have made excellent points about not buying a 500pt contract. We've seen 300pt resales price-reduced more than once since VGF went on sale. Bigger is not better if you'd ever decide you simply want to sell, much less needing to. A contract as large as you're wanting will stagnate on the market for a long time, likely.

Diversification is the way to go, IMO, even if you ultimately want only VGF. The really small ones, 25-75 pts, command higher price-pers because they're in huge demand by people wanting to establish membership and buy direct later. And some simply want small addons.

We have 4 contracts ranging from 25 to 150–optimal amounts for selling if need be, all but one at VGF.

I know this is super subjective and varies person to person, but how would you personally structure 400-500 point contracts? Our favorites are Grand Floridian & Wilderness Lodge, followed by Animal Kingdom. I was always told to not bother with an AK contract as its one of the easiest to waitlist into?

 

[Her Dotness]

I see a lot of people very annoyed with the AP situation, often to the point many say, "I don't even see a reason to have DVC anymore." This is what has had me most confused as of late and wondering if there's something off with my math. For instance, 1 week per year at a 1BR VGF during our preferred time of year...

Only 1 week annually is our pattern, and when is dependent upon DH's company's vacation scheduling order of attack. He's not quite high enough in seniority to get in early enough for us to go near Christmas, for instance. We know not how, but 7 years ago Christmas fell on Friday, and he lucked out grabbing that week. We don't anticipate that occurring again unless the proverbial place freezes.

So, heck yeah! 1 week/per year in a VGF 1br--that's us, generally going in Oct. or Nov., perhaps switching to near-cheapest May 1-14 in future.

Don't let those of the Must-Have-AP school dissuade you from considering DVC workable. We used to stay GF Club Level. We save a BIG chunk of money with DVC, staying only a single night in a resort other than VGF yearly, the remainder at VGF. In fact, feels like our room is free, comparatively.

We've never had an AP and wouldn't want one. Join that exclusive club if you concur. We'll welcome ya.

 

[Her Dotness]

I know this is super subjective and varies person to person, but how would you personally structure 400-500 point contracts? Our favorites are Grand Floridian & Wilderness Lodge, followed by Animal Kingdom. I was always told to not bother with an AK contract as its one of the easiest to waitlist into?

As pointed out above, if the piddly merch discounts mean anything and you anticipate wanting to get into TOTWL events, etc., you'll probably want the direct buy minimum to grandfather you in at 150 currently. Not that Disney can't decide to yank the grandfathering in future :::::grabbing tissue:::: AHHH-Cheapek!

Anyway, it feels like a deal when I blow 2 Bens+ at Basin White and get 15% off (when that DVC discount is offered)--which I definitely can do. Spreadsheet-wise? Naw, not saving but negligibly since we'd get 10% putting it on the Disney Visa. It's just a feel-good basically. And those feel-goods do add magic...

Okay, so we bought in VGF direct at the 100pt minimum and added 25 direct a couple years later. We're still glad we got direct points just in case for those little member niceties even though we rarely do any events. And that 100 pt one would be the one we keep if at all possible to retain benefits.

This year, we added a 150 VGF resale to ensure we can manage a 1br whenever we go. The 50 BWV is just for an arrival night 1br wherever appeals. So, where are we staying that night next trip? Yup, modified to VGF. Figgers.

That's why I'm a major promoter of "Buy where you love", because you'll probably end up modifying or selling to add more nights there.

So, were I you, I'd start with 100 resale, maybe fewer. Then, I'd add 150 direct asap and tack on small resales to total as many points as you'll use annually. You can get yourself too points-heavy by buying beyond 50 or more than you'll absolutely need for a 1br wherever you may want to stay whenever in the year. 50 more points gives you a cushion for when DVD reallocates and bumps the point cost to where you're forced to cut your stay a night, borrow every year or buy one-time-use points. Guess why we added that 25-pointer?

As for possibly splitting between VGF and CCV (or BRV), I'd still sock the money into the resort I love best. If not a full week, you can generally work a split at 7 months at all but the top demand times of year like Christmas at CCV, for instance. Alternate years, booking your true-love resort at 11 months and modifying at 7 months for a full week elsewhere. That way, you've a fallback you know you'll enjoy if the 7-mo. switch won't work without waitlisting, stalking...too much hassle for us. You might love the waitlist/stalking/walking adventure. We'd hate it.

 

[SouthPhilly]

As pointed out above, if the piddly merch discounts mean anything and you anticipate wanting to get into TOTWL events, etc., you'll probably want the direct buy minimum to grandfather you in at 150 currently. Not that Disney can't decide to yank the grandfathering in future :::::grabbing tissue:::: AHHH-Cheapek!

Anyway, it feels like a deal when I blow 2 Bens+ at Basin White and get 15% off (when that DVC discount is offered)--which I definitely can do. Spreadsheet-wise? Naw, not saving but negligibly since we'd get 10% putting it on the Disney Visa. It's just a feel-good basically. And those feel-goods do add magic...

Okay, so we bought in VGF direct at the 100pt minimum and added 25 direct a couple years later. We're still glad we got direct points just in case for those little member niceties even though we rarely do any events. And that 100 pt one would be the one we keep if at all possible to retain benefits.

This year, we added a 150 VGF resale to ensure we can manage a 1br whenever we go. The 50 BWV is just for an arrival night 1br wherever appeals. So, where are we staying that night next trip? Yup, modified to VGF. Figgers.

That's why I'm a major promoter of "Buy where you love", because you'll probably end up modifying or selling to add more nights there.

So, were I you, I'd start with 100 resale, maybe fewer. Then, I'd add 150 direct asap and tack on small resales to total as many points as you'll use annually. You can get yourself too points-heavy by buying beyond 50 or more than you'll absolutely need for a 1br wherever you may want to stay whenever in the year. 50 more points gives you a cushion for when DVD reallocates and bumps the point cost to where you're forced to cut your stay a night, borrow every year or buy one-time-use points. Guess why we added that 25-pointer?

As for possibly splitting between VGF and CCV (or BRV), I'd still sock the money into the resort I love best. If not a full week, you can generally work a split at 7 months at all but the top demand times of year like Christmas at CCV, for instance. Alternate years, booking your true-love resort at 11 months and modifying at 7 months for a full week elsewhere. That way, you've a fallback you know you'll enjoy if the 7-mo. switch won't work without waitlisting, stalking...too much hassle for us. You might love the waitlist/stalking/walking adventure. We'd hate it.

Are closing costs generally based off the points purchased (resale or direct) or is it a flat flee? I'd hate to pay $x,xxx in closing costs on 3-4 contracts

 

[Her Dotness]

Are closing costs generally based off the points purchased (resale or direct) or is it a flat flee? I'd hate to pay $x,xxx in closing costs on 3-4 contracts

Closing is per contract.

I'd suck up and diversify, because you'll only pay those once. The amount you can make should you want/need to sell a small contract might easily recoup closing costs.

Take a look at the resale market listings. You'll see 25/50/75-pointers going for somewhat more per point than the 100+ contracts. And those small ones go like lightning. We've seen VGF ones appear and go to "pending" in merely 15 minutes, I kid you not.

Incidentally, you can buy weird numbers of points direct, such as 53 or 37. I've seen people say they added a peculiar numbered contract direct to cushion for DVD tweaking the studio points upward by 2-3 per week for when they most often went.

Hasn't typically happened for the 1br, because demand is highest for studios--and point costs for those get fiddled with about every 2 years.

It remains to be seen how 1br availability will be impacted by current members who added points to upgrade to the 1br annually. (Like us!) And, there may be more competition for 1brs by resale members who bought VGF direct recently and aren't interested in VGF2. There aren't that many 1brs at VGF1.

 

[beldred]

I'm really new to the DVC world, but I thought I'd chime in anyway. I've been researching our purchase for nearly a year. (We're currently in closing on our first contract.)

Firstly, I see all kinds of agitation and upset over the AP thing. I totally get it, especially when you've always had it and planned your purchases around it. However, I can't see that it has any effect on us. We typically take one trip every 12-18 months for 7-10 days. So an AP isn't cost saving for us. Since multiple day tickets get cheaper per day, it's always way better than an AP.

I'm honestly not sure why people think DVC is only for people who take multiple trips per year. After doing the math breakdown to compare what we'd pay per trip with a DVC buy-in plus the yearly dues versus what we pay for lodging if we rented points versus what we'd pay for cash rooms (we usually stay at Pop), it came out that we'd be saving a little money over Pop and having better accommodations (spending close the same renting points but buying gives us more control with less risk factors).

So here's what we're doing: bought a small BCV contract for cash (Epcot is our favorite park). That gets us in the owners door where we plan to watch for incentives to buy in at either BLT or Poly2. Plan to buy in 3 contracts at the same resort in 50 point increments (spread out so we can stay all cash). Blue Card benefits seem pretty crappy right now but that also gives us unrestricted points at a longer lived resort. If the incentives are decent, should be worth it. That's probably all the points we need (empty nesters) but if we decide we want more for taking more family or if we get grandkids, we'll pick up some more resale contracts.

Hopefully the thought process of another newbie will help you out a little. Good luck with what you decide!

 

[DVCsloth]

Some people look for larger contracts just because they can get a good price. As long are you are OK with it possibly being harder to sell and less per point.

 

[dvc lover 1970]

DVC will not lower their price, but they will offer steep incentives that substantially lower the price per point. I am wondering if we will start to see prices closer to 2009 era in the next couple years.

 

[AC168]

To the OP, I’d buy 100 resale then wait for incentives to buy 150 direct and then pick up 250 more resale in either one transaction or two. Small contracts go fast but a 250 isn’t that big and it can be annoying to deal with a bunch of small contracts.

 

[HIRyeDVC]

Pretty difficult to time the market. I've heard Grand Cal and Riviera's incentives improved from it's intro price but those were during unprecedented times (the great recession and a global pandemic). I think most prognosticators are predicting only a mild recession this time around so Disney will probably stick to their guns and not deviate in pricing much. But it's all speculation at this point.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I know this is super subjective and varies person to person, but how would you personally structure 400-500 point contracts? Our favorites are Grand Floridian & Wilderness Lodge, followed by Animal Kingdom. I was always told to not bother with an AK contract as its one of the easiest to waitlist into?

If you purchase resale the price differences for small and large contracts will already be built in. And you sound like resale would suit you fine. I'm not as concerned about larger contracts when going resale because you can generally get them for less. On the back end you'd also sell them for less but that's the wash same as if you purchase small contracts higher and sell them higher. And fewer closing costs on both ends with the larger contracts. 150-250 pts - I'd just look for a good contract. I'd not encourage a 500 pt contract but in the end for a certain price it wouldn't be the end of things. I'm not a fan of contracts smaller than 100 pts for the closing costs reasons, unless you are a member who needs to add on just a few points.
For where - it also sounds like you've visited DisneyWorld and like VGF most. Wilderness Lodge - is that CCV or BRV? If you want to stay at either consistently then it could make sense to get one contract there and one at VGF. When you want to travel can still play a part in the need to own multiple locations though.

 

[DVCanadian]

I know this is super subjective and varies person to person, but how would you personally structure 400-500 point contracts? Our favorites are Grand Floridian & Wilderness Lodge, followed by Animal Kingdom. I was always told to not bother with an AK contract as its one of the easiest to waitlist into?

I’d either buy all the points at one resort for simplicity, or buy 250 at two resorts.

 

[NVDISFamily]

Hello. Fellow somewhat new member here who did something kind of like what you are considering (bought a "few" points).

Some thoughts/notes (sorry if any of this is a repeat - I'm working crazy hours right now so I can just skim/read quickly).

It's about 200 dollars in doc fees per contract. As you have to do this at least once the first one is a sunk cost so the cost to split up the 500 into 4 would be an extra 600 bucks. Highly recommend. I split up my direct purchases into 6. 150x4 for Riviera and Copper Creek 75x2.

It's best to not buy multiple resorts unless you have enough at each resort to do "what you really want." For example, the 150 CCV points we have is not quite enough for our liking. We'll be fine trying to sneak in a few points from other contracts at 7 months, but it's a bit stressful not having that ability to book our "dream" vacation in the 11 month window....

Have you factored in resort days into the mix? Are you paying a lot for premium rooms but going to the park each day? I think one of the "perks" of DVC is it makes premium rooms a bit more sane to book. My family loves nice suites and we plan on doing our awesome 10 to 12 nights at WDW trips every year or every other year. Plus often we'll be brining guests to the party. Only planning on doing the parks every other day and also sneaking off down the road to visit Harry Potter a day or two....

Prices have been "good" from what I can tell. I value direct. I will be "not too old" when a lot of inventory converts in 2042. I look forward to staying at the Beach Club Tower in 2045 with some of these points I also want to try and book at Disneyland Tower and that will likely be restricted. I agree with what people are saying to wait until the next round of incentives. Hopefully they do another 4 to 6 week promo during the first half of the "event." The only potential downfall is if they increase the base cost past 207.

 

[kilik64]

The only "perk" buying direct that matters right now is having unrestricted points. If you are good being locked out of future resorts that come online and whatever happens with 2042 resorts when they are converted to new DVC units with restrictions, then resale will be fine. Just go in knowing that you will lose access to a bunch of resorts in 2042 and only be able to book 6 maybe 7 (maybe 7 is cause who the heck knows whats gonna happen with OKW) resorts starting then with that number decreasing even further as the life of VGF goes on.

Just something to think about if you plan to hold long term. If you are on a 10-15 year window before selling, wont much matter to you then.

 

[DisneyOutsider]

Everyone likes to think they will be buyers in a recession until everyone around you starts losing their jobs.

 

[DonMacGregor]

Everyone likes to think they will be buyers in a recession until everyone around you starts losing their jobs.

And Disney raises the prices anyway...

 

[HIRyeDVC]

Everyone likes to think they will be buyers in a recession until everyone around you starts losing their jobs.

While no one can predict the future, most experts are predicting at least a mild recession. Disney had very little trouble selling AKL, VGC, and BLT during the 2008 Great Recession. I don’t see them having trouble selling this time around either.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

While no one can predict the future, most experts are predicting at least a mild recession. Disney had very little trouble selling AKL, VGC, and BLT during the 2008 Great Recession. I don’t see them having trouble selling this time around either.

They delved deeply into discounts and other incentives to do so.