I will add my voice to excellent suggestions so far. Direct is quite expensive, and while you get a handful of perks vice resale, your ability to take advantage of many of them is often timing. Those perks can be (and likely will be) taken away or changed at any time. The discounts you get, while nice, will in no way pay for the severe discrepancy in costs between direct and resale. The DVC guides may not flat out lie to you, but they're under no particular obligation to paint a realistic picture, either. To wit:
- Resale is far cheaper in both the long run and mid-term. Short run, Disney will set you up with points with little hassle, but the guide won't mention the huge cost differential will never be made up via discounts and perks.
- If you buy direct, you can book at 7 months out at any resort, including new ones to come. However, what the guides won't highlight is that with resale you will still have the other 13 "legacy" resorts (other than your home resort) at your disposal. No, you can't book into the new ones, but is that worth an extra $14-$20K? If you love DVC that much down the road, you can always buy an entry contract into a new resort.
- The
points charts for 2020 changed dramatically. The guides may very well not mention the 2020 charts at all--after all, this is still 2019. Yes, the number of overall available points at a resort can't change, but they can sure be altered so that the point totals you thought would be enough during your typical travel times no longer buy you the same number of days. For example, at Copper Creek and VWL (or BRV if you must
), almost every season went up, especially for studios and 1BRs. For a 1BR during Christmas week, the 1BR cost went up over 40 points. What went down? The most expensive options during two seasons--2BRs which most people don't buy enough points for more than a 3-5 day stay.
- Only a few resorts have room for 5 in studios, and some don't have room for 5 in 1BRs (such as the very new Copper Creek).
- The guides likely will tell you that you'll have to go on a wait list for direct points at any resort outside of Aulani and Copper Creek. They'll find you a contract, certainly, but in many cases it will take longer than just buying resale.
- They will likely tout the ability to trade out to RCI,
DCL, et.al. While RCI is still an option for resale, DCL and Concierge are not. However, as others on here have said, that's a poor use of points. 250 points wouldn't buy one person's passage on most Disney cruises, plus they charge you $95 for the privilege.
There is a lot of research and thinking to do about purchasing DVC, and it is a serious financial commitment, not only in terms of the purchase price but also in terms of yearly dues which will continue to rise each year. There is also the time commitment. As your family grows, will the same desire to return time after time still be there, and will you be prepared to be satisfied with only your home resort if what you want at 7 months is unavailable? I sincerely wish you the best of luck in your decision because DVC can be a very enjoyable aspect of the Disney experience. However, I urge you to look at it from the lens of 10 years from now. Good luck!
. They were always excited about our family vacations. Now they are grown with small kids of their own and we still continue to have these family vacations. For us that alone was priceless and still is. Nothing like seeing the excitement of a WDW or Disney Cruise vacation on our granddaughters faces. 
