Is it worth it to buy 25 points direct from Disney?

[citivas]

Planning to buy resale soon and trying to figure out my target number of points. Part of that equation is deciding if I expect to also buy 25 points at the same resort from Disney to be eligible for the perks they only give direct purchasers now. I'm not convinced, for our uses in the foreseeable future, they are but I wanted to gut check my assumptions with the experienced users here. I know that Disney could change the rules in the future and that my use requires could change...

At the moment, our expectation is actually just 1 trip every other year typically for one week. Based on our other vacation plans/schedule this is what works best for our family. And we're nowhere in the region of the resorts so the trip is always a big scheduled event with flights, etc.

As a result, I don't see us benefiting from the annual pass deals. It looks like the cost for the Gold pass roughly translates to buying a 9 day park hopper. Even when we come for a week we typically only get 5-6 days and do at least one at Universal. When we have done 6 day passes we have sensed some burn out by the last day. The best pattern seems to be one day at each park (with maybe minor park hopping post dinner) and one day of greatest hits parking hopping two parks. And since we're coming every other year, we wouldn't even be able to benefit from the cheaper renewal rate.

With only 25 points direct, we wouldn't meaningfully benefit from any of the non-DVC hotels, the cruises or Adventures by Disney and the conversion on those is poor anyway.

And it sounds like from what many others have posted that at least for now Disney doesn't really enforce only giving direct members the discounts on dining or merchandise inside the park as opposed to letting any DVC member get them. If this changed in the future we could always revisit buying enough direct points to get them.

Am I missing anything important? The more I think about it, the more I don't see the upside in paying ~$50/point more for the 25 direct points, paying closing costs a second time and all the hassle of the second transaction. I can see it for those who plan to have multiple visits a year or very long visits.

Thanks.

 

[chalee94]

As it stands now, I agree with you.

If you want the AP discount later, the rules may change. (The AP discount might also go away for everyone - who knows.) But for right now, yes.

 

[Ben E N]

The only big advantage I see to current direct members is the annual pass discount. We use the annual pass to sneak two trips into just under 12 months, so it is worth it to my family. We then take a year or so off and start again (at least that's the plan). The bonus of the dining discounts and free photopass that comes with them is nice as well. If you for sure are taking a full 22 months or so off between trips, then this would not benefit you, and I do not see the other benefits being worth the cost.

 

[Steph01002]

We will be doing the direct add-on as soon as the resale points are in our account. For us, it is worth it. We have two trips planned that we will be able to use the first year AP deal to save about $800 for a family of four. We have been to the DVC Epcot lounge and to one of the member parties while staying with friends and enjoy those things... although I know its not guaranteed to continue. It also gives us the ability to book 1-3 nights at another resort (depending if we would use it every year or every third year) at the 11 month window to tack onto our main resort stay. It will also give us a longer membership as we are buying Poly direct and just closed on BWV on Monday. When BWV's contract is up, then we still have the little Poly contract for membership.
I don't think they would change membership rules without grandfathering in the older contracts, just like how people who bought before that date in 2016 were grandfathered into the blue card even though they had bought resale.
Plus, Poly seems to be creeping up there on the resale market anyway that a small contract is getting close enough to direct to not go through the hassle of resale.
This may not make much of a difference though if you plan to buy direct at the same resort you bought resale.

 

[Dean]

Planning to buy resale soon and trying to figure out my target number of points. Part of that equation is deciding if I expect to also buy 25 points at the same resort from Disney to be eligible for the perks they only give direct purchasers now. I'm not convinced, for our uses in the foreseeable future, they are but I wanted to gut check my assumptions with the experienced users here. I know that Disney could change the rules in the future and that my use requires could change...

At the moment, our expectation is actually just 1 trip every other year typically for one week. Based on our other vacation plans/schedule this is what works best for our family. And we're nowhere in the region of the resorts so the trip is always a big scheduled event with flights, etc.

As a result, I don't see us benefiting from the annual pass deals. It looks like the cost for the Gold pass roughly translates to buying a 9 day park hopper. Even when we come for a week we typically only get 5-6 days and do at least one at Universal. When we have done 6 day passes we have sensed some burn out by the last day. The best pattern seems to be one day at each park (with maybe minor park hopping post dinner) and one day of greatest hits parking hopping two parks. And since we're coming every other year, we wouldn't even be able to benefit from the cheaper renewal rate.

With only 25 points direct, we wouldn't meaningfully benefit from any of the non-DVC hotels, the cruises or Adventures by Disney and the conversion on those is poor anyway.

And it sounds like from what many others have posted that at least for now Disney doesn't really enforce only giving direct members the discounts on dining or merchandise inside the park as opposed to letting any DVC member get them. If this changed in the future we could always revisit buying enough direct points to get them.

Am I missing anything important? The more I think about it, the more I don't see the upside in paying ~$50/point more for the 25 direct points, paying closing costs a second time and all the hassle of the second transaction. I can see it for those who plan to have multiple visits a year or very long visits.

Thanks.

My view is it's best to give oneself options if the added cost isn't overly dramatic. If one is buying sufficient points volume and plans it within their purchase, the added cost is maybe an additional $1250 for 25 additional points. But one would have more options going forward and would likely lock in access to those and future changes. And it gives one the ability to consider other resale contracts that wouldn't be a reasonable choice if trying to buy all they needed resale as a chunk. The closing costs will add another $110 or so and the additional transaction issue is nothing as long as one can actually buy direct from their location. Once you get under about 150 points total it does start to be a more unreasonable option for many.

 

[4luv2cdisney]

Planning to buy resale soon and trying to figure out my target number of points. Part of that equation is deciding if I expect to also buy 25 points at the same resort from Disney to be eligible for the perks they only give direct purchasers now. I'm not convinced, for our uses in the foreseeable future, they are but I wanted to gut check my assumptions with the experienced users here. I know that Disney could change the rules in the future and that my use requires could change...

At the moment, our expectation is actually just 1 trip every other year typically for one week. Based on our other vacation plans/schedule this is what works best for our family. And we're nowhere in the region of the resorts so the trip is always a big scheduled event with flights, etc.

As a result, I don't see us benefiting from the annual pass deals. It looks like the cost for the Gold pass roughly translates to buying a 9 day park hopper. Even when we come for a week we typically only get 5-6 days and do at least one at Universal. When we have done 6 day passes we have sensed some burn out by the last day. The best pattern seems to be one day at each park (with maybe minor park hopping post dinner) and one day of greatest hits parking hopping two parks. And since we're coming every other year, we wouldn't even be able to benefit from the cheaper renewal rate.

With only 25 points direct, we wouldn't meaningfully benefit from any of the non-DVC hotels, the cruises or Adventures by Disney and the conversion on those is poor anyway.

And it sounds like from what many others have posted that at least for now Disney doesn't really enforce only giving direct members the discounts on dining or merchandise inside the park as opposed to letting any DVC member get them. If this changed in the future we could always revisit buying enough direct points to get them.

Am I missing anything important? The more I think about it, the more I don't see the upside in paying ~$50/point more for the 25 direct points, paying closing costs a second time and all the hassle of the second transaction. I can see it for those who plan to have multiple visits a year or very long visits.

Thanks.

The bolded part of your post would be my concern. The cost for a planned 25 point add-on is pretty insignificant if you take advantage of any direct benefits over the lifetime of your contract. However, if you purchase the "right" amount of points resale, but then add on 25 ONLY for direct benefits in the future, you have to get a greater amount of benefits to justify the purchase (in my opinion).

If you want / need 125 points and buy 100 point resale and 25 direct, you're increasing your total purchase by roughly $1400 now for possible future benefits. You don't know how much you will or will not care about those benefits in the future.

If you buy 125 resale and later find out you want direct benefits, you're increasing your total purchase by probably at least $4000 plus your dues go up probably at least $175/year x 20+ years. The question will be do you need those points and how will you use them.

Really, it's all a bit of a gamble. You may end up with more or less points than you need as time goes on no matter what you do.

 

[citivas]

My wife and I were browsing the full list of member perks and what we found surprising was that at Disneyland they give you meal discounts at the majority of the restaurants, both inside the park and outside, including both the table service and some quick service places. At Disneyworld they seem to have discounts at very few of the options inside the parks or at the Disney hotels and none of the quick service places. Perhaps they can be more generous in California because there are so fewer DVC members there? In any event, we concluded based on our past habits that we would rarely benefit from any of the dining or shopping perks, certainly not enough to give it any value.

 

[Ben E N]

The one more thing that came to my mind for your scenario is something like the 7 for the price of 5 deal. That would seem to apply to you. The savings are not as great, or as constant, as the AP deals, so it may not be enough to sway you. Just something else to think about.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

My wife and I were browsing the full list of member perks and what we found surprising was that at Disneyland they give you meal discounts at the majority of the restaurants, both inside the park and outside, including both the table service and some quick service places. At Disneyworld they seem to have discounts at very few of the options inside the parks or at the Disney hotels and none of the quick service places. Perhaps they can be more generous in California because there are so fewer DVC members there? In any event, we concluded based on our past habits that we would rarely benefit from any of the dining or shopping perks, certainly not enough to give it any value.

At DL I believe they pretty much are just matching up DVC to Annual pass holder discounts. It's like WDW that way where DVC is pretty similar to AP discounts. But the difference is that at DL the AP holders get dining discounts at more locations, including QS locations so the match from DVC is better. Still, it takes a lot of 10% hot dog discounts to make up the difference of a direct purchase.

 

[cw62803]

I bought a 25-point direct add-on in 2016 and I'm glad I did. The discounted AP came with a number of discounts that were better than the DVC discounts, and we were able to attend two "Moonlight Magic" events at Typhoon Lagoon. Furthermore, the points were available immediately and closing costs were significantly lower than buying resale. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

 

[ziravan]

My guess is that there'll be more restrictions added soon, among them increasing the minimum qualifying buy in to 50 points (the minimum purchase amount for a non-member).

Current members will likely be grandfathered.

As time goes on, I think DVC will sweeten membership with perks so that they can justify their pricing. I think being a qualified member for perks is worth it now, and possibly will be even better as time goes on.

And I think the buy in is half the cost of what it will soon be.

I'd buy in while I can do so for 25 points.

 

[Dean]

My guess is that there'll be more restrictions added soon, among them increasing the minimum qualifying buy in to 50 points (the minimum purchase amount for a non-member).

Current members will likely be grandfathered.

As time goes on, I think DVC will sweeten membership with perks so that they can justify their pricing. I think being a qualified member for perks is worth it now, and possibly will be even better as time goes on.

And I think the buy in is half the cost of what it will soon be.

I'd buy in while I can do so for 25 points.

IMO this is inevitable that they raise the minimum to buy for everyone to 50 sooner rather than later, maybe 2-3 years or less.

 

[4luv2cdisney]

IMO this is inevitable that they raise the minimum to buy for everyone to 50 sooner rather than later, maybe 2-3 years or less.

I realize no one really knows, but do you think it would be a minimum for first time buying direct purchases only or even for members who have already purchased direct? Meaning no more 25-49 point contracts for anyone...?

 

[Kevin4321]

FWIW, we are in a similar situation and bought a 25 add on a while back. They gave us a loaded contract which was a pleasant surprise and turned the cost difference between direct and non direct to about $1000. I like the other perks mentioned by previous posters as well. I ended up purchasing AP’s and now visit more often than we historically had. So, in end, it helped me feel better about spending more money with Disney

 

[Dean]

I realize no one really knows, but do you think it would be a minimum for first time buying direct purchases only or even for members who have already purchased direct? Meaning no more 25-49 point contracts for anyone...?

I think it'll be all or none. I suspect they'd just raise the minimum and not try to get fancy to track those who bought retail but are not qualified under a certain # or they won't do it at all. I suspect it's basically 100 % they won't say you can buy 25 retail but you have to buy 50 to qualify for the perks.

 

[4luv2cdisney]

I think it'll be all or none. I suspect they'd just raise the minimum and not try to get fancy to track those who bought retail but are not qualified under a certain # or they won't do it at all. I suspect it's basically 100 % they won't say you can buy 25 retail but you have to buy 50 to qualify for the perks.

Interesting. I can see how that could really backfire on them. I mean, if I already have direct benefits and I just want to add 30 points because I've figured out I'd rather book preferred view or that I tend to want to stay an extra night, etc., they're basically sending me to resale.

 

[ziravan]

Interesting. I can see how that could really backfire on them. I mean, if I already have direct benefits and I just want to add 30 points because I've figured out I'd rather book preferred view or that I tend to want to stay an extra night, etc., they're basically sending me to resale.

Are they, though?

Try to buy a resale of 50 points or less. It's a crap shoot (they sell in minutes) and you'll end up paying very close to retail.

I don't think DVD is going to lose much more business to 30 point resale contracts. They'll continue to sale just as fast on the resale market as they do now whether you're in the market for one or not.

In fact, the best argument DVD can make against the competition of 30 point resale contracts is to stop selling them.

 

[4luv2cdisney]

Are they, though?

Try to buy a resale of 50 points or less. It's a crap shoot (they sell in minutes) and you'll end up paying very close to retail.

I don't think DVD is going to lose much more business to 30 point resale contracts. They'll continue to sale just as fast on the resale market as they do now whether you're in the market for one or not.

In fact, the best argument DVD can make against the competition of 30 point resale contracts is to stop selling them.

I do realize how difficult small contracts are. That's why I bought mine direct. However, I already have direct benefits. I'm not buying 50 points if all I need is a 25-30 point add-on. And I think the resale market is going to be flooded with 25 point contracts in a few years.

As it stands today, I'm not even looking resale for 25 points, I'm calling direct. Again, not for benefits, but because it's not worth the hassle. I think a lot of people buy in and then decide they need "just a few more points".

All I'm saying is, it would make sense for them to offer existing direct points owners to continue to buy at 25 minimums. We're not buying for benefits, yet we're still choosing to buy direct. Why turn us away? If I'm going to be forced to buy more than I need, I'm buying 75-100 resale instead. Really, I've heard they've sold below the stated minimums plenty of times. I'm guessing it will be a matter of how hard you push even if it does become the "rule."

 

[Bbguy5]

It's all about the math. I saw a 25 point okw add-on reslae for 115/point, stripped with almost $500 in closing costs. Direct from Disney would not have been much more (about $600) and you don't have a lot of the hassles.

 

[Dean]

Interesting. I can see how that could really backfire on them. I mean, if I already have direct benefits and I just want to add 30 points because I've figured out I'd rather book preferred view or that I tend to want to stay an extra night, etc., they're basically sending me to resale.

If they raised the minimum purchase amount I'm sure there would be some that wouldn't buy retail and some that would buy resale. But there would also be some that would buy 50 retail that would have only bought 25. My suspicion is it'd be a wash at worse for them and a plus for those that have qualified benefits already. I'm sure DVD has some info to tell them where this might fall but likely wouldn't know for sure even then. But it WOULD shift the number that should buy resale plus an add on somewhat though experience has taught me that what a given person should do and what they will do are different things. And in all likelihood it'd come with an increase of minimum purchase for new members retail to either 75 or more likely, 100 across the board.