Are the DVC Member PERKS worth it?

[rle4lunch]

For you? No. In fact PVB, VGF, & VGC all sell above $200/point now when you buy. All are sold out and would need to be on a waitlist to get. The only resorts that often have a better deal, are the currently available (not sold out) ones where they offer incentives if buying larger numbers.

Disney effectively gets to sell the same thing twice so for them it's a good thing. The profits on a second sell are smaller though, but really just an extra amount they get to take in.

Makes sense.

 

[Phonedave]

The profits on a second sell are smaller though, but really just an extra amount they get to take in.

Are they?

I never looked at what sort of margins DVC has on new sales. What is the all in capital cost of a resort divided by the number of points?

The margins on some of those "buy and resell" points are pretty sweet.

-dave

 

[wishiwere@wdw]

I’m not sure if this is still applicable but I know in the past, both for us and friends that purchased direct, Disney would often sweeten the deal with other incentives so don’t be shy to ask. For instance, a free cruise for 4, bonus points added in, gift cards, etc. That all being said, for all I know the resellers use similar tactics as well. Just throwing it out there a potential advantage buying direct.

 

[correcaminos]

Are they?

I never looked at what sort of margins DVC has on new sales. What is the all in capital cost of a resort divided by the number of points?

The margins on some of those "buy and resell" points are pretty sweet.

-dave

You know that's a total guess of mine. I'm not sure which profits were higher the first time around. Like PVB, they originally sold for $165 and now we're up to $220. Even if they buy back resales at about $165 or so, they're making like $55 per point. You'd think the original profit would have to be pretty high though.

In the end, the buy back and resell option is great. Double dipping on getting at least some profits for the points.

I’m not sure if this is still applicable but I know in the past, both for us and friends that purchased direct, Disney would often sweeten the deal with other incentives so don’t be shy to ask. For instance, a free cruise for 4, bonus points added in, gift cards, etc. That all being said, for all I know the resellers use similar tactics as well. Just throwing it out there a potential advantage buying direct.

The incentives now are pretty well spelled out and don't seem to deviate much. Now it seems to be in the form of cash back, which I'd take over a cruise personally.

Resales didn't do anything to sweeten the deal for us. We got a cute snow globe from them, but that's it.

 

[nickys]

Anyone interested in doing a cruise would be better off renting your points out and then paying cash for the cruise.

David’s even have a special deal they do when you want to cruise. Well worth looking into. We haven’t cruised yet, but inevitably I’m sure we will in a few years. Will definitely look at their offers.

 

[correcaminos]

Anyone interested in doing a cruise would be better off renting your points out and then paying cash for the cruise.

David’s even have a special deal they do when you want to cruise. Well worth looking into. We haven’t cruised yet, but inevitably I’m sure we will in a few years. Will definitely look at their offers.

This is true, though above they were talking about the cruise as an incentive to buy in - as in "you buy, we give you a cruise" type of deal. Probably similar to the idea of a free SSR stay that they've offered if you buy in.

 

[EOD K9]

This is true, though above they were talking about the cruise as an incentive to buy in - as in "you buy, we give you a cruise" type of deal. Probably similar to the idea of a free SSR stay that they've offered if you buy in.

You can also, as others said, use points to book a cruise. The points to what you get ratio is terrible. I’ve rented points and used the money to cruise and get the room we want.

 

[correcaminos]

You can also, as others said, use points to book a cruise. The points to what you get ratio is terrible. I’ve rented points and used the money to cruise and get the room we want.

I realize that you can if you're a full member (hence first statement saying "that it true"). I often say it's a bad use of points to do that too. That's just not what we were talking about a few posts up though.

 

[Phonedave]

This is true, though above they were talking about the cruise as an incentive to buy in - as in "you buy, we give you a cruise" type of deal. Probably similar to the idea of a free SSR stay that they've offered if you buy in.

When I bought my initial direct contract I got a cruise (sort of).

Not knowing better at the time, I bought my initial contract direct. They were running a bonus of developers points at that time. It was a bunch of points - something like a year and a half worth. But there was a short usage window on them.

I was going to get a villa and take family to WDW with the points. I asked a number of family members, but nobody could make it because of the short notice.

So, I ended up using the developer points to get a cruise from me and my daughters.

-dave

 

[pdude81]

Spent 2 days at a 1BR at CCV last week and boy is that nice. Makes me rethink all of my grand plans to spend money elsewhere, but I have to watch a studio tour video to get a sense of what it really feels like to stay there. The kids splash area and the pool were really nice as well. If where you want to stay is only really obtainable by direct purchase then there is still a lot of value, especially considering they matched the point charts of VWL and a studio in the middle summer is only 17 points.

 

[Nottamus]

Before we even went to Disney, my wife's dream resort was AKL All i could say was, 'someday"

we stayed at Coronado Springs on first trip. Visited AKL for dinner....all I could say was, "someday"
next trip - Pop Century....blah blah blah-------"someday"

we ended up buying into DVC and ALMOST went with Saratoga because the points were cheaper...but we decided on AKL and totally glad we did. It IS super hard to get a room at 7 months anywhere these days..let alone the ones we want at AKL.

So buy into where you want to stay! (now I can stop saying someday)

 

[pdude81]

Before we even went to Disney, my wife's dream resort was AKL All i could say was, 'someday"

we stayed at Coronado Springs on first trip. Visited AKL for dinner....all I could say was, "someday"
next trip - Pop Century....blah blah blah-------"someday"

we ended up buying into DVC and ALMOST went with Saratoga because the points were cheaper...but we decided on AKL and totally glad we did. It IS super hard to get a room at 7 months anywhere these days..let alone the ones we want at AKL.

So buy into where you want to stay! (now I can stop saying someday)

Totally with you. Someday for us used to be a Savannah room at AKL. We kept our finances in check and now own at PVB and AKV. Staying at the polynesian never even occurred to me as a possibility before that. It's also nice to know I can sell the AKV contract easily for $20 more per point than I paid for it last summer.

 

[MinnieWaffles]

No, they're not. Because good luck even booking one. Tried to get through to book the Moonlight Magic event for HS today, all gone within 50 minutes. I bet greedy people grab them all up and resell on Ebay.

 

[nickys]

No, they're not. Because good luck even booking one. Tried to get through to book the Moonlight Magic event for HS today, all gone within 50 minutes. I bet greedy people grab them all up and resell on Ebay.

You can’t do that. Or at least if you do, the poor people buying them can’t use them. You have to check in and show your blue card to get the wristbands.

They’re just incredibly popular. If you think of each person bookimg for 4, possibly more, then it only takes 300 people to get through and 1200 tickets are gone. No idea how many tickets they issue but it is obviously limited. Frustrating for most but it is what it is.

 

[Phonedave]

You can’t do that. Or at least if you do, the poor people buying them can’t use them. You have to check in and show your blue card to get the wristbands.

They’re just incredibly popular. If you think of each person bookimg for 4, possibly more, then it only takes 300 people to get through and 1200 tickets are gone. No idea how many tickets they issue but it is obviously limited. Frustrating for most but it is what it is.

That is pretty much it. They are very popular. I would hazard a guess that if you are member, and happen to be staying at WDW during a MM event, you would try and get tickets.

If you are a local, then you may try and get tickets as well.

They go fast.

 

[correcaminos]

That is pretty much it. They are very popular. I would hazard a guess that if you are member, and happen to be staying at WDW during a MM event, you would try and get tickets.

If you are a local, then you may try and get tickets as well.

They go fast.

Though the locals do have to wait until the 13th to try (or anyone staying offsite)

 

[Phonedave]

Though the locals do have to wait until the 13th to try (or anyone staying offsite)

That is true, MM events usually open to members with existing reservations before they open to all other members.

 

[LuvtheGoof]

No, they're not. Because good luck even booking one. Tried to get through to book the Moonlight Magic event for HS today, all gone within 50 minutes. I bet greedy people grab them all up and resell on Ebay.

That is pretty much it. They are very popular. I would hazard a guess that if you are member, and happen to be staying at WDW during a MM event, you would try and get tickets.

If you are a local, then you may try and get tickets as well.

They go fast.

We got in at 9:35. Clicked on the link exactly at 9, and was waiting for 35 minutes. Thought for sure it would be gone, but we got lucky. I wonder if they hold some back for the 13th?

 

[ToTBellHop]

There are perks and then there are benefits.

The benefits that come with a direct contract are the ability to use your points for cruises, or for non-DVC locations on property. Those are in your contract. And they are useless. You will do much better renting out your points through a broker and using the cash, instead of using points for these purposes. So right away this eliminates these benefits.

Perks are different - perks are not guaranteed. They can be changed or removed at any time. Granted, now that DVC has this two tiered system, they are less apt to remove perks, but that's not to say they won't change or remove them. Perks should really not factor in the decision, as they have no guarantee of being there.

Having said that, the current AP Discount is significant, if purchasing an AP is something that you would do. Merchandise and dining discounts are nice, but you have to look at how much you would buy. Do you really buy that much merch? I know we have cut back on a lot of TS dining,just because it is not worth it (food quality is not there).

The EPCOT lounge is nice, but I go to it once, maybe twice, a trip, for about 10 minutes, just to cool off. Not really that great a benefit.

The member magic events are very nice - if they fir your schedule. The never fit my schedule, so I just look at them and say "I wish I could be there for that."

-dave

I hate how late they announce MM events. If we are being honest with ourselves, if you own at a popular DVC (say Beach Club), you need to book 11 months out. All except the least-desirable DVCs require that you book 7 months out (sorry Saratoga--you can book there mere weeks out in many cases!). If I have to book many months out, they need to announce MM dates further in advance. I've had so many near misses on MM dates this year! The August one at Epcot was the night before we arrived. I would have been quite easy to just come in a day before, but once they announced the date, we couldn't add the night. Bah.

Not all DVC members live locally.

 

[nickys]

I hate how late they announce MM events. If we are being honest with ourselves, if you own at a popular DVC (say Beach Club), you need to book 11 months out. All except the least-desirable DVCs require that you book 7 months out (sorry Saratoga--you can book there mere weeks out in many cases!). If I have to book many months out, they need to announce MM dates further in advance. I've had so many near misses on MM dates this year! The August one at Epcot was the night before we arrived. I would have been quite easy to just come in a day before, but once they announced the date, we couldn't add the night. Bah.

Not all DVC members live locally.

However they do it, the fact is not everyone staying onsite during one of these events will be able to attend. So whether they announce months out or not is fairly immaterial. The were plenty of people who booked a couple of nights when the dates we announced, and they cancelled if they didn’t get in. Not all of them were local.

The really local members would still have to book an onsite stay to have a reasonable chance of going, because the places they held back were gone in 10 minutes.

The only suggestion I’ve seen that might work better would be if they announced dates around the 11 month mark and then you could book when you booked your stay. You would know there and then if you had a place and could then go ahead or not book.

And they absolutely should be limiting it to people on your reservation. None of this taking 6 random strangers along nonsense.

My chances are slim to b.. all regardless, in that our trips are all but planned out 2-3 years ahead. If we ever get to go it’ll be an amazing bonus.