Buying DVC for the first time

[Clamshell]

Hi all

We are looking into purchasing DVC and whether it’s right for us. We are just having a look at the benefits of buying direct with Disney over buying resale and was hoping someone could help me with a few questions.

Can you buy DVC direct from Disney when we are based in the UK? I did just live chat Disney and got told they aren’t authorised to sell to us

I understand that if you buy resale, you don’t get the membership perks that you would if you are buying direct from Disney - in you opinion, do you think that would be enough to sway you to buy direct, or do you think the amount gained isn’t enough to outweigh the cost saving of buying resale? (Obviously I get that everyone’s opinion will be different on this &#128515

I will probably have loads more questions which I hope you won’t mind helping with 🤞

[KarenG]

You absolutely can buy direct from the UK (unless something has changed recently).

The membership perks are not contractual and therefore not worth basing a buying decision on because they can be removed at any time.

Have you worked out the difference between direct and resale? It can be many many thousands of dollars depending on how many points you’re after.

It’s also worth remembering that different resorts have different end dates

[Noodlez]

Yes, you can buy directly from the UK. I met a guide while I was over there and emailed them directly about it but there are people on here who just contacted them generally. I'm not sure what the email address is but hopefully someone who has done it will be able to let you know. Most of our communications were through email but the documents were sent by FedEx to sign and collected by them too.

Although I have a small direct contract I didn't do it for perks! What perks are you after? The main one is that resale contracts cannot use their points to stay at Riviera or future resorts (unless it's a Riviera resale contract), but there are plenty of other resorts to stay at so I wouldn't think that is worthwhile. The other main one is the ability to buy a gold annual pass, but they aren't even selling new annual passes at the moment.

They do promote some things as perks which really aren't! There are certain non-DVC things you can book with points (I believe the cruises are direct points?) but in nearly all cases you are better off renting your points out and paying cash.

Moonlight magic events can only be attended by direct point holders, but they aren't running these at the moment. When they do occur you would have to be lucky enough to have already booked a trip for that time to be able to get a ticket, which is quite slim. I would again use the savings to just buy a ticket for one of the special evening events which are less crowded.

They can also take away any perk at any time, so you should never buy relying on these. I'm not as against buying directly as some people are as I did it myself, but I would still recommend that you purchase resale.

Edited to add: The UK DVC number is 0800-783-2893. If they can't help you they might be able to point you in the right direction.

[Clamshell]

Yeah - we have had a look through and priced buying resale. The dvc website was showing a discount on copper Creek points at the moment so I thought it would be a good idea to get some figures from them for the same number of points and they just shut me right down ☹️ I might try again tomorrow and perhaps make it clear that we are talking a cash purchase, no finance in case that is what they were thinking

We figured if buying direct wasn’t too much more, it may be worth it.

Am I right in saying that buying resale gets you much the same deal as far as staying on site is concerned, but you don’t get the restaurant and merchandise discounts, entrance to the dvc lounges in the parks etc. You also don’t get to swap for Rci stays etc - is there anything that you don’t get that you think is a huge loss?

[Clamshell]

Originally Posted by Noodlez

Yes, you can buy directly from the UK. I met a guide while I was over there and emailed them directly about it but there are people on here who just contacted them generally. I'm not sure what the email address is but hopefully someone who has done it will be able to let you know. Most of our communications were through email but the documents were sent by FedEx to sign and collected by them too.

Although I have a small direct contract I didn't do it for perks! What perks are you after? The main one is that resale contracts cannot use their points to stay at Riviera or future resorts (unless it's a Riviera resale contract), but there are plenty of other resorts to stay at so I wouldn't think that is worthwhile. The other main one is the ability to buy a gold annual pass, but they aren't even selling new annual passes at the moment.

They do promote some things as perks which really aren't! There are certain non-DVC things you can book with points (I believe the cruises are direct points?) but in nearly all cases you are better off renting your points out and paying cash.

Moonlight magic events can only be attended by direct point holders, but they aren't running these at the moment. When they do occur you would have to be lucky enough to have already booked a trip for that time to be able to get a ticket, which is quite slim. I would again use the savings to just buy a ticket for one of the special evening events which are less crowded.

They can also take away any perk at any time, so you should never buy relying on these. I'm not as against buying directly as some people are as I did it myself, but I would still recommend that you purchase resale.

See more...

That’s really helpful - I didn’t realise that about riviera and future resorts. I’d only seen that if you buy resale riviera, you can only use that for riviera. But like you say, there’s plenty of choice.

We are trying to decide. Whether to buy enough points for 1 week a year, and bank every other year to go for a fortnight, or to go all in and buy enough for 2 weeks each year

[Noodlez]

Originally Posted by Clamshell

Am I right in saying that buying resale gets you much the same deal as far as staying on site is concerned, but you don’t get the restaurant and merchandise discounts, entrance to the dvc lounges in the parks etc. You also don’t get to swap for Rci stays etc - is there anything that you don’t get that you think is a huge loss?

See more...

The only DVC lounge you can't access is in Epcot. The TOTW lounge is paid for by annual dues so all members can access it.

As far as I'm aware, all points can be swapped for RCI, not just direct ones.

[Noodlez]

Originally Posted by Clamshell

We are trying to decide. Whether to buy enough points for 1 week a year, and bank every other year to go for a fortnight, or to go all in and buy enough for 2 weeks each year

See more...

We actually bought far more points than we really needed, but renting them out has covered our annual dues so far! Whatever you buy you will probably be tempted to add on. I guess what you buy now depends on your financial situation, but make sure you buy a few extra points as the points charts do change a little from year to year.

[YorkshireT]

If you want Riviera consider direct but be aware the restrictions will strip value if you come to sell. Effectively you’d be taking the hit on what the points should be worth to prop up further profits for Disney with its new restrictions. Not fair or a good deal IMO.
Any other resort I’d suggest resale is the way to go.
I own direct and resale. I have a blue card. What has it ever got me? Some discounts on annual passes, food (I’d say maybe worth $100 a visit), a few trips into the Epcot lounge (a nice facility in a currently unused ex sponsor lounge area- who knows when it will go), and 10% off a mug as I don’t buy overpriced merchandise.
Is that worth the extra for you? The AP discount is the best one, but who knows if they’ll keep it or even have APs long term? They appear to be ditching them at California and you’ve got to jump through hoops to get one currently and only if you had one at the time of closure and cancelled it or wish to renew.
I’ve never been there for a Moonlight Magic. Who knows if they’ll ever be back?
Top of the World is great, but resale can go up anyway.
I would not buy for perks which can be removed at any time.

[KarenG]

Originally Posted by Clamshell

Yeah - we have had a look through and priced buying resale. The dvc website was showing a discount on copper Creek points at the moment so I thought it would be a good idea to get some figures from them for the same number of points and they just shut me right down ☹️ I might try again tomorrow and perhaps make it clear that we are talking a cash purchase, no finance in case that is what they were thinking

We figured if buying direct wasn’t too much more, it may be worth it.

Am I right in saying that buying resale gets you much the same deal as far as staying on site is concerned, but you don’t get the restaurant and merchandise discounts, entrance to the dvc lounges in the parks etc. You also don’t get to swap for Rci stays etc - is there anything that you don’t get that you think is a huge loss?

See more...

To be honest there is usually a discount

[Shooby doo]

The confusion might be that you can't finance from UK, many moons ago you could as they had an agreement with Abbey National (I think it was them). IMO are the perks worth it- No plus perks can be removed at any time, the AP one still only works if you can get at least 2 holidays out of it & as far as dining & shopping, it isn't everywhere & you would need to go some to make up the difference!
TBH I'm in the camp where you buy enough points for your whole holiday, whether that's every year or every other- on an every 2 we are approx £1600 in dues to then have to find the same if not more, on top of flights, spending money etc doesn't make sense to me. I always sound like I'm "anti" DVC but really we love it but it's not what we expected either. We sort of envisioned being in this special club but the reality is that if there's special anywhere it's not for DVC owners! Also, unless you were going to stay at a Deluxe anyway, it is most definitely not going to save you any money, we will be lucky yo break even by the end of our contract TBH.
SD