Disney lodging tip!

[Like2Plan]

Disney has also made some changes to make buying direct more appealing and discourage folks from buying on the secondary market. I don't know all the details as I don't follow it that closely but I know some details and perks have changed.

Way back when we purchased there was not a lot of difference between buying from Disney Direct and resale price-wise. And, all the perks were the same whether you bought direct or resale. We went with direct because we were purchasing at the new resorts.

Now-a-days there are some perks that are lost by purchasing resale, but honestly, I haven't seen a perk that would make me want to pay more by going direct.

Resale purchasers can't use points for cruises. TBH, I haven't seen any good deals using points for cruises, anyway. Most conventional wisdom is to rent your points out and then take the cash and use it for the cruise and you come out ahead.

The same goes for using points for Concierge Collection, the Disney Collection or the Adventurer Collection (resale purchasers can't use points for these option, either). But, again IMHO you don't get the most bang for your buck using your points that way.

I think the DVC lounge at EPCOT is only for direct purchasers. Meh! no big deal--It is set up much like the lounges that they have for Food and Wine if you are a Disney CC holder. (Although they do distribute snacks sometimes. )

There are dining discounts and discounts off merchandise, but most of these perks could also be available if you have an annual pass or a certain credit card.

They have been doing special member only free events after hours at various theme parks/water parks. I have attended a couple of these. They were nice, but not worth paying thousands extra to buy direct through Disney.

They also offer discounts on annual passes. This one is nice...but, no guarantee they will have this in the future (and probably not be worth thousands of dollars).

Perks come and go. For example, they used to have free valet parking for DVC members. That one is long gone. One of the really cool perks was they used to have free length of stay park passes for 1/2 the room occupancy. AFAIK, this only lasted for Old Key West owners. I think it ended around the time that Animal Kingdom opened (before DH and I were members, anyway ).

[MooseBucks]

I agree that DVC direct isn’t worth the benefits. I own resale and can rent my points to cover more than my annual dues + amortizatied purchase price. My cost works out to about the same price as a Disney value resort so we’re stayig in a much nicer room for the same price as their cheapest room and if we aren’t going to use the points we can rent them fairly easily.

[disneysteve]

I agree that DVC direct isn’t worth the benefits. I own resale and can rent my points to cover more than my annual dues + amortizatied purchase price. My cost works out to about the same price as a Disney value resort so we’re stayig in a much nicer room for the same price as their cheapest room and if we aren’t going to use the points we can rent them fairly easily.

Exactly, but just to be clear, Disney is probably the only timeshare company in existence for which this is true.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

how does dvc work and how do you buy it resale?

[MooseBucks]

how does dvc work and how do you buy it resale?

Points based and you use a real estate broker. Spend some time on Disney’s DVC website and then check out the DVC specific forums that are out there. My wife and I decided it was worth it for us because we’re making multiple trips down to Disney each yr and already staying on property. If you’re not stayig on property and don’t see a value in staying in property DVC isn’t going to be for you as there are cheaper options that disneysteve and texashusker have mentioned.

[Like2Plan]

how does dvc work and how do you buy it resale?

There are several resale places that specialize in DVC. The Timeshare Store is one. Here is a link to some of the listings to give you an idea of some of the listings: http://www.dvc-resales.com/dvc-listings.cfm

But, you would want to look at the Dis board which has an extensive information on Purchasing DVC:

https://disboards.com/forums/purchasing-dvc.28/

Here is a thread on Right of First Refusals (it gives you an idea of the prices Disney jumps in and takes the property back if the offer is not high enough):

https://disboards.com/threads/rofr-thread-april-to-june-2018-please-see-first-post-for-instructions-formatting-tool.3674375/

But, honestly if you don't have a huge commitment to making a visit to Disney every year or two, you might be better off renting points if you have your heart set on staying at a DVC property. DVC points are not really very good if you don't want to stay at a DVC property. By this I mean--you pay high maint fees for DVC, it wouldn't necessarily make sense to use it for an exchange.