Decessions, Decessions....about to buy, leaning toward buying from the Kingdom!

[Edgmiller]

Ok, I have heard many positives and negatives for both buying on the secondary market and through Disney. The thing I worry about is once the kids get older. I don't know that I will want to go to Disney every year in my retirement years (though I am a kid at heart). I may want to use the points toward hotels across the world. I also worry that Disney may later place restrictions on those packages not purchased through them.

Questions:
Can they place restrictions on points purchased outside of Disney?

Do ALL members get the discounts toward tickets, etc.?

Does Disney treat its members differently purchased through them verses on the secondary market?

Does Disney offer the deals (ie: to add on to contracts, to extend contracts) only to members purchasing from Disney?

Do they offer tours of the resort you may purchase as your home resort, ie: Grand Floridian?

Thoughts on using points at hotels: in the Disney system (Paris, Hong Kong and Tokyo) or partner hotels to the Disney Vacation Club?

Your advice is most appreciated!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[GoofGoof]

Right now the only difference between buying resale and buying direct (other than price) is that with a resale contract you cannot trade in for Disney Collection (Disney Cruise Line or Disney cash hotel rooms) or Disney Adventures (African Safari, Great Wall of China, etc). With a resale contract you can still trade in through RCI to thousands of destinations worldwide as well as use your points at any DVC resort. The discounts on merchandise and park tickets are exactly the same. Discounts and other perks are not guaranteed to continue for any owners direct or resale and are subject to change any time.

When Disney placed the trade-in restrictions on resale contracts they grandfathered in any previous resale contracts. In other words the restriction was only on new resale buyers not someone who already bought resale. There is no guarantee they would do this again if they added new restrictions, but they did set a precedent. It's not in Disney's best interest to de-value resale contracts too much. They rely on an active resale market as a selling feature for direct sales. One of the main concerns people have with timeshares is being stuck with one that they can't sell and don't want to use anymore. With right of first refusal Disney keeps the resale market high enough to provide an exit strategy and some peace of mind for current and future owners.

As far as the trading in DVC points the value is generally not there. Your best value is to use DVC points for stays at DVC resorts. Some trade-ins through RCI can be a decent deal too depending on where you want to go. Things like trading in for Disney hotel rooms or cruises are generally not great values. You can probably rent your points out through a reputable site and use the cash to book a cruise. Here's an example I posted in another thread:

You would need a lot of points to book a long (7-10 day cruise) or you would need to bank and borrow. For simplicity sake let's assume you buy 160 points at BLT and want to see what your options are for trading in for a Disney cruise.

• A 3 night Bahama cruise for 2 adults in March on the Magic in an inside stateroom (cheapest room) costs $945 booking direct from Disney Cruise Line. The same cruise would cost you 160 DVC points if you traded in. Disney is giving you the economic equivalent of $5.91 per point for your trade-in. Not great value.
• If you rent your points through a repuatable broker like David's you can get between $11 and $13 per point. Assuming you own at BLT and rented in the 7 to 11 month window you would get $2,080 ($13 X 160). That's enough to:
  • Pay for your cruise and have $1,135 left over
  • Book 2 of the same three night cruises with the money
  • Upgrade to a deluxe stateroom with verandah ($1,521) and still have $559 left over.
  • Book a 5 night cruise in the same room class.
• Current resale prices for BLT are around $100 while direct from Disney is $175. If you wanted to buy 160 points you would save about $12,000 buying resale. You could take twelve 3 night cruises on the money you saved by going resale and still have all of your points left to use at WDW or to rent out.

It's a little more work to rent your points out, but in the end it is a huge savings over trading in for a cruise. I've never looked at the numbers for international stays. I know that VGC is very hard to get so if you want to use points at DLR the only option may be to trade in for a hotel room.

 

[Lynne M]

Here's the key starting point to understanding DVC......regardless of how you buy, direct or resale, you are purchasing the right to stay in the DVC resorts, using points, subject to availability, for the duration of your contract. That's all you're guaranteed in the contract. EVERYTHING ELSE is subject to change.

It's just as easy for Disney to change, restrict, or take away the ability for members who've bought direct to use points for cruises, other Disney resorts, the concierge collection, or trade out to RCI, as it is for them to take those things away from resale members. Any and all of those things have changed in various ways over the years. Buying direct is NOT protection against these changes.

Buy DVC for stays at DVC resorts.

To take some of your other questions.....

Currently, any discounts offered to members who buy direct are also offered to members who buy resale. Don't buy for the discounts, as they're not part of your membership. They're offered by other divisions of the Disney company, or third parties, when it suits their business needs to do so.

You won't be treated differently at the resorts, or by Member Services, if you buy resale.

You can add on to contracts regardless of who you bought from. Disney's always happy to get more of your money.

There are no DVC-led tours of the resorts, but they're easy enough to check out on your own. You can see models of the currently-sold villas at the sales center at SSR.

Using points at other Disney-owned (non-DVC) resorts is generally a very poor value. It's offered as a convenience, but that's about all you can say for it. As the PP said, you can rent out your points to cover the cost of the stay at the other resorts, and usually come out ahead.

 

[dreamfinder]

DVC should still offer tours of the property they are currently selling. These will focus mostly on the room mockups, but the guide may throw in other things, when we saw AKL they showed us the owners room, showed us the founders tapestry, etc as well as the samples.

The PPs spoke well to your other points.

 

[EOD K9]

There was also a room to see at Board Walk.

 

[Edgmiller]

Thank you, I think I have changed my mind! Thank you soo much!