On the fence about DVC resale...

I purchased OKW via resale. No regrets

Gotcha. We are being quoted $215, $243, and $275pp for AKL, Poly, and Bay Lake Tower, respectively right now. As we do not currently hold a contract resale or otherwise we have only a small $900 incentive on the table at the Poly.

Same... wish I bought more... :)

Thank you. Our only concern is fear of missing out on current direct membership benefits or future benefits that may arise. It's easy to figure the premium we are paying on a direct contract but it is hard to assign an exact value direct membership perks would provide to us. The Sorcerer Pass is probably the most attractive to us. It is very concerning such benefits are also not guaranteed and have a history of phasing out.

Those are the base prices. Right now AKL and BLT don't have incentives for new purchasers. However, Polynesian does have incentives like AirJay said above which get it to about $217/pt, but if you also take the Magical Beginnings offer, you can drop the price another $20 to $197ish. Magical Beginnings is when you sell back the first year of points back to Disney. You need to tell your guide you are interested in this when writing up the contract. Let's say you want a June use year right now. You'd sell back the June 2025 points (because we are still in that use year) and then you'd still have a fresh set of point for June 2026.

Would you happen to know if that incentive on Poly applies to new members? I am surprised our guide said nothing about this but rather only offered $900 off a 150 pt contract, or $237/pt.

I am thinking the $217 @airjay75 mentioned already accounts for the afaffective price per point reduction using Magical Beginnings.

https://dvcfan.com/news/winter-early-spring-2026-dvc-incentives-revealed/#google_vignette

My $217/point was based on exiting member add-ons. Both the incentive plus the $1,000 Anniversary credit plus the $1,000 Disney Visa credit plus the $500 D23 Gold credit. That said, I am now noticing that the $1,000 Anniversary credit is only available to new members who purchase at least 200 points - for existing members, you can get that at 150 points. I'm nearly certain you can still get the Disney Visa credit and the D23 Gold credit on 150 points as a new member though. Last I checked D23 Gold is free to join for Disney+ subscribers (and, if not, it costs like $50 to join). The guides sometimes do not mention all of these available credits unless you specifically ask about them, so it's always important to ask.

So, on 150 Poly Points, the $243/point, the $6/point incentive, the $1,000 Disney Visa credit, and the $500 D23 Gold credit, would get you down to $227/point. Magical Beginnings is another savings of $20/point. That could get your purchase of 150 points down to $207/point.

Magical Beginnings is available on the sold out resorts too, but the other incentives are not.

Note that the incentives on RIV are a bit higher at $15/point which, on 150 points with the same credits gets you down to $218/point or $198/point with magical beginnings. And, I know the resale restrictions with RIV scare a lot of people off, but IMO, you're worse off with AKL because resale RIV currently goes for $115-$120/point while resale AKL goes for more like $100/point. And, if you're keeping these points for the long-term, salvage value shouldn't be a significant concern anyways because who knows what resale prices will look like 15 or 20 years from now. Sill, Poly is still the better purchase if you're concerned about that.

Another strategy people use is to buy a small resale contract before purchasing direct so they can take advantage of existing member add-on incentives which are always better than new member. If you find a deal on something like that, you can always sell it later and not have really lost anything. That does take time though.

I'll mention one other thing that you might now know. If you do buy direct first, insist on getting the UY you want. The guides will tell you they're currently selling X UY, and try to dissuade you from a different one, but I have never heard of them being willing to lose a sale over UY. If you say, I want this UY, and I won't purchase if I can't have it, I can almost guarantee they will make it happen.

@airjay75 Genuinely appreciate your detailed information and tips! Took me all of 2 minutes to join D23 Gold through my Disney+ subscription just now.

Awesome, AirJay broke down the numbers wonderfully! However, the basic incentive is $8/pt if purchasing 150 pts. I was a dollar off in my comment last night and should have looked at my spreadsheet- it's $198.33/pt. BUT my numbers were based on being a DVC member already as I forgot the Anniversary incentive was only for current members if buying 150 points. So, in your case you'd add back $6.67 to the cost. When talking to your sales guide, you have to tell them everything you qualify for... unfortunately it seems they don't volunteer the incentives unless asked.

Sounds like AirJay found if you go to 200 pts, that $1000 discount is available for new members. Also, if you do 200 pts at Poly, the basic incentive goes to $12/pt.

These promos don't run for much longer, but there will be new ones after that. There is always some incentive. This incentive period is better than the last one for the Polynesian, but no telling how the next incentives will be.

If you don't have a Disney Visa, I'd recommend the Disney Inspire Visa-- yes, it has an annual fee, but I've already earned credits and rewards dollars that made it very worth it.

Wishing you the best on your decision!

You’re being very thorough with this decision, as you should! Just remember if you’re buying direct because of incidental benefits, they can change. They can also go away. This can happen for a myriad of reasons ranging from “demand is high we don’t need to give stuff away to sell points” to “there’s a new boss at DVC and they don’t like this approach” to “we will only offer perks at a fee going forward”.

You are supposed to buy DVC to save money on lodging at Disney. That is the whole concept. Don’t lose sight of that.

I suspect most people who buy DVC end up spending much more money on Disney vacations than they otherwise would have. Sure, they end up staying a deluxe resorts and saving A LOT of money over what they'd pay rack rates for those rooms, but I would wager the amount of money they fork over to the mouse goes up much more than if they had never bought. That has certainly been my experience :). But, more power to you if you or anyone else who have managed to do otherwise!

100% agree. The DVC owner is the most loyal Parks & Experiences customer there is. Aside from Golden Oak residents (very few), DVC membership is as “put your money where your mouth is” gets.

But your post expands “lodging” to “vacations”. That’s a subtle but significant shift. You may find that you go more often as a DVC member, or do more things at Disney since you now are there more regularly. But the point is your lodging doesn’t cost what it does if you pay cash every visit anymore. The higher the premium paid for DVC extras, the less that rings true.

And Disney has figured out that you can monetize the heck out of Disney Parks & Experiences passion: Want even MORE magic? Here’s a way to make that happen! $$$

Not that it’s a bad thing. If you can afford it and it brings you joy go for it!

If I could go back in time not being very close to Florida I would 100% go resale. The only real perk to the "blue card" would be the moonlight magic which is hard to get into and even harder if your booking 7 months out !

Our family of 3 is placing value on two main features of direct: Sorcerer Pass and the flexibility to use direct points at every DVC resort current or future. Unfortunately the Sorcerer Pass benefit is not guaranteed but if it lasted, say 8 years, that is around $11,000 in savings as we always renew our Incredi-Passes. This helps close the gap of the resale savings but involves the risk of that benefit being stripped away. We are out of state, but we make 2-3 trips a year so we hope the pass benefit will work in our favor. If we can enjoy the lounges on every trip and the occasional MM that will be icing on the cake! We would include our immediate family members to our deed so the benefits will actually reach a total of 6 adults potentially. Although this has potential to change, a hybrid membership seems to make a lot of sense for our situation.

I think most people should consider to be hybrid members. E.g., direct points and resale points.

As for whether direct makes sense at all, are you going to complain about being a second class citizen each time they announce a special giveaway / experience/ discount for direct members only? Even if people talk about how awesome it is?

Would you wan to stay in the newer resorts? Or are you OK in staying with only the OG 14?

Are you the type that will invest the difference? Instead of wasting it on something else?

Hi, @BruinDisney20.

I have come to the same conclusion about being a hybrid member. I do realize psychologically, I would have a problem missing out on some of the extra benefits direct members will be able to enjoy over the years. The final nudge towards our decision making has been watching the development of Lakeshore Lodge. It's our opinion this will become one of our favorite resorts. I am liking the idea of buying Poly direct since it is still quintessential Disney in my mind. Although I have not shared how much my spreadsheet has evolved in the last several weeks since we have seriously been considering DVC, I have taken a very analytical approach to counter the emotional side of this decision. The foundation of my comparison was taking a hard look at how we like to vacation today. We have a solid pattern of visiting WDW as I have averaged two trips since 1996. We typically stay in Value accommodations but sprinkle in the occasional DVC rental stay. My spreadsheet looks at what the financial impact would be if we invested the full upfront cost of DVC over the lifetime of the various contract expiration dates vs. cash flowing discounted rack rates for the types of rooms we usually stay in. I allow for a reasonable rate of return vs. variable rates of inflation for Disney's rack rates vs. increases for annual dues as the former historically outpaces the other. The results? Nothing truly spectacular going the DVC route. My analysis tells me that over the full lifetime of a Polynesian contract we will pay about $30,000 more to be DVC members with 200 points than continue to stay at Pop Century/Art of Animation. When I consider that translates to a $750/year premium to go from mostly Value resorts to Deluxe stays it does feel easier to justify. And as you suggest, I only arrive at this conclusion if we invest the "savings" we have paying only dues each year vs. discounted rack rates for accommodations. (Of the $750, $163 is the annual premium we will be paying to buy direct vs. resale). We stayed at Aulani two years ago, staying at Beach Club later this month and Bay Lake in September so our vacations are trending towards the Deluxe accommodations anyways. Because DVC will cost us more than our historical average spend, it's nice to think we will get some financial benefit of the extra benefits that are not guaranteed (like the Sorcerer pass) to help offset the premium we are paying. If we go forward, the majority of our points will be direct. We would not commit to DVC with resale points alone as the newer and future resorts are certainly something we would want to experience. We are 35 now so a forty-year contract also feels somewhat like a sweet spot.

I 100% with "buy where you want to stay". You'll be sorry if you don't, especially when you go to book at 7 months during a busy time of year.

Also, everyone must make the decision between resale or direct (other than those that don't even know resale exists!). For us, resale was a no-brainer! We bought a 200 point BCV contract and literally saved $20K. We live in NY and already visit WDW a few times per year, so things like Moonlight Magic didn't really interest us. And we would never break even on that $20k we saved by purchasing resale with the discounts we would receive from being DVC direct members. (meal, merchandise, etc.). And again, ANY of those extras (discounts, MM, etc.) can be removed at any time.

Now that DVC is limiting resale buyers at the newer resorts from staying at other resorts, that solidifies it even more for me to buy resale at current resort (other than Riviera, due to that restriction). No one purchases DVC thinking they will sell it one day, but life happens. That new restriction on the new resorts will tank the resale value of the contract. And as a resale owner, you can still stay at those new resorts. How? You just rent your points and then take that money to rent at the new resort. Yes, it's not as easy as just booking through the website...but there is a way for you to "convert" your points to stay at a new resort if you want to check them out from time to time.

Lakeshore Lodge has so much appeal to us that the restrictions from buying resale only at one of the original 14 resorts would be an issue for us. I've heard time and time again that the structure of a DVC purchase is (of course) going to be different from family to family. We now understand we want to have 150-200 points direct that will allow us full flexibility at all resorts current and future. Sure, we could always pay cash or rent points to stay at the newer properties but that defeats part of the benefit of DVC. To some degree DVC will shield us from the brunt of inflation to stay at newer properties. The real problem is the newer DVC resorts are points vacuums. For example it can be nearly double the amount of points to have the same length of stay at Poly vs. AKL for the same tiered accommodation. Also the $20,000 that is saved upfront reduces to $400-$500 per year over the life of a new contract. So it's easier in my mind to rationalize a direct purchase. Especially if I can get a few good years of "limited-time" perks like discounted annual passes that can save my family of three $1,500 per year while that incentive lasts.

I am 100% resale, but have been thinking about going hybrid and just adding a couple small addons direct to be able to bank and borrow to use at newer/restricted resorts.

But if i was in need of a bigger chunk of points i would still buy resale first.