I’m Planning Our First Direct Purchase — Follow Along

Def will be following the journey!!

I think we'll all be saying Welcome Home relative soon! Look forward to coming along.

My first purchase was direct points last year. I followed that up with more direct points a few months later and have since bought resale to supplement. I don't regret any of it. And you sound like you are looking at things with very good perspective.

38 Days Until Meeting Our In-Person DVC Meeting in Orlando

1. We believe we have narrowed our prospects down to Animal Kingdom Lodge, Polynesian, Riviera. The properties vary greatly in their locations, transportation mechanisms and aesthetics. Some thoughts in the first week of our considerations...

   • Our pros for AKL: On a point-for-point comparison, AKL outshines the others. We can simply have more DVC trips to AKL. Reading into the points charts, there is no argument that of the options we are considering, AKL will provide the most number of nights for the same amount of points. We do enjoy this resort. We enjoy the food offerings on property as well as the scale and grandeur of Jambo House as well as the pools. The views of the savannah are nice but are not a deciding factor. We find the rooms comfortable and spacious.

   • Our cons for AKL: Location and bus transportation is not the most attractive. No walking access, Skyliner, monorail, boats. From what I've learned AKL availability is usually decent at 7 months. It seems to make more sense to have a home resort with transportation flexibility. We do enjoy our mid-day park breaks!

   • Our pros for Polynesian: It's a monorail resort with architectural interest. We love the idea of owning at a MK resort. DVC direct is offering some rather intriguing stacking incentives right now. The kind of incentives that start to blur the line between resale and direct contracts in point cost. As a new member I believe we can get out cost per point to hover right around the $200-ish mark. I'm still coming up with around a $7,000 premium to go direct vs. a comparable resale contract. In the event of some incredibly unlikely shift in our vacation habits, I feel confident it would be fairly easy to sell our contract in the future without a staggering loss.

   • Our cons for Polynesian: The points simply just don't go as far. When I normalize our actual cost to own Polynesian for the same amount of use-time (meaning more points to achieve the same trip) it's the most expensive each year, even when considering the longer life of the contract. We have also never stayed here so we are apprehensive for this reason.

   • Our pros for Riviera: The Skyliner is the biggest pro for us. We've learned to love using this mode of transportation during our most recent stay at Art of Animation. Access to Epcot and Hollywood Studios is a breeze. I also appreciate the compactness of this resort. Similar to the Polynesian, current DVC incentives narrow the premium one must pay to go direct as opposed to a similar resale contract. The premium I see right now as a new member again is around $7,000 for a similar amount of points. We have only visited a couple of times but I think this resort has a lot of room for opportunity to grow on us...

   • Our cons for Riviera: Of course the last thing we want to think about is selling our shiny new DVC contract but we understand it is an unfortunate reality for some. The resale restrictions at the Riviera are daunting as we know the resale value of the Riviera may tend to plummet. We also have concern that as more members accumulate resale contracts tied to the Riviera this will create stress on the overall inventory availability for members.

Following along on your journey! We have 2 resale contracts and felt confident about that. But then from time to time I think about all the future resorts that may open….and it’s easy to see at least some value in direct benefits. I could see us at some point (when the right resort or incentive comes up), offloading our larger resale contracts to pick up direct points.

I think the pros and cons you've spelled out are spot on. I think you're thinking through very well and the pros and cons of each resort.

I bought my first direct points purchase just about this time last year - 300 Riviera points. I'm going to say this - buy where you love and where you think you will be most happy using your points. When I first learned about the resale restrictions during the meeting with our guide, my immediate reaction was, ok, well you better show me the Poly island tower because that place sounds like the better financial decision. We toured the Poly island tower twice and spent one night at Riviera on cash. I wanted to love the Poly because the lack of resale restrictions, but I just didn't. Our family did love Riviera.

After carefully evaluating all the pros and cons, I decided that Riviera is what I wanted. I didn't want Poly. The resort and tower were lovely, but it wasn't our family's speed. We like to feel like we're getting away from the parks and the action and have some relaxation time - Poly felt too much like you were still in the center of the action. Riviera was exactly what we were looking for and we loved it. Resale restrictions be damned.

We decided we loved it so much that I wanted to future proof our points for larger accommodations, so I bought another 300 Riviera points. I have absolutely no regrets. It's what I wanted, I wasn't buying for some future, theoretical resale value. I was buying it to use it and because Riviera is what we wanted.

Of course, you might decide that Poly or AKL is what you and your family love and want, and those are great options too. I would still hesitate with AKL because it can be had for so much less resale and, unlike Riviera, where only direct points get you the ability to use them outside of Riviera, resale AKL still gets you into the O14 resorts. But, IMO, when you're spending this amount of money, you shouldn't settle for something - get what you want.

Pretty well thought out. I had some of the same concerns with Riv and as long as you aren't wanting the value or club rooms at AKL, availablity at the 7 month is good. You have to decided which resort is right for you and your family. The motto around here is to buy where you want to stay. Direct DVC prices are always increasing and the incentives always changing. We always say we wished we would've bought in when we first talked to a DVC guide. By going with direct DVC points, you future proof yourself by being able to use those points in all future DVC resorts like Lakeshore Lodge.

I'll be following along on this thread for how your decision evolves.

Do you know the time of year that you most plan to travel? Have you considered what use year you will be wanting?

We are thinking our primary point usage will be for Spring Break. For that reason my first thought was Feb/March UY. We plan to talk this over with our guide using multiple scenarios to see what benefits us most for trip flexibility and how our trips may evolve over time.

I would go into any discussion with a guide already knowing the UY you want. The guides change the UY they are told to sell throughout the year, and they will steer you toward that one if you don't know what you want. The UY they're selling tends to be one of the months that have recently passed because, by law, they have to give you all current UY points. So, if you bought your points in May, but wanted a June UY, they have to give you points all the way back to June 2025.

Here is the best rule of thumb for picking the best UY. Yes, identify when you're most likely to travel. Good first step. The second step is determining when you are least likely to travel. Ideally, you want those months coming just before the start of your UY.

I personally picked October because September is the first month of school, it's still really hot and still hurricane season. I don't see our family going in September. And, July and August are not our favorite times for WDW since they're so hot (and hurricane season), but if we did plan something for those months, they would be summer break trips and so our dates would be pretty fixed and it would take something major for those trips to be cancelled. June, although within the last 4 months of the UY, isn't a big deal, because I'd have to cancel more than 30 days out to avoid holding points, which would still be before May 31, our banking deadline.

February or March can be very good UYs for spring and summer travel. They are not very good UYs if you plan to travel in November, December, or January. That works for some people because they know the holidays are just not something they're very interested in and spring, summer, early fall travel interest them much more. Some people really like September because the points charts are lowest for that month. For someone like that, October or December UYs would not be very good.

All 3 of these are great resorts, and any of them would make great options!!

We were in a very similar internal debate between AKV, Poly and BLT. Ultimately we went resale with AKL so we could start enjoying it now, but will likely go Poly in the very near future for direct. That whole fear of missing out will get ya every time. AKL seems to have the biggest difference in price between resale and direct, so it didn't make sense to us to spend the direct price on it. Poly to us makes the most sense to buy direct because that price difference was the closest of the 3.

With the resale restrictions, we had taken Rivera out of the running. We don't know what the next 44 years looks like and loosing over 1/2 its value (in the current market) didn't make us feel real good about purchasing at that resort.

One thing to think about, that I didn't see mentioned above, is deed expirations. Poly will give you an additional 9 years over AKL. Not only do you get the additional years, but theoretically if you were to ever sell it, it would hold its resale value longer.

Part of me is hoping that Disney is seeing what is happening the Rivera resale market value, and may rethink the resale restrictions before they release Lakeshore Lodge for sales.

Relatable for sure! From those resorts we are considering, the largest spread I am seeing right now is resale vs. direct Bay Lake Tower. The same amount of points at BLT can be had for literally half that of direct. I believe Disney designed the resale restrictions on the newer resorts to encourage direct ownership and to maintain that ownership. Personally, I think the resale restrictions at DLL will directly mimic that of Riviera, Disneyland Hotel, and the Cabins. We are anxiously awaiting more information on Lakeshore Lodge and we do not doubt that we will visit and stay at Lakeshore in the future. I just have a strange hunch (with absolutely zero evidence to support) that when Lakeshore comes online the direct minimum DVC point purchase is going to jump to 175 from 150. This hunch along with current incentives at a legacy resort like the Polynesian is making buying direct now more attractive. As you mentioned, the deed expiration at Poly is attractive too!

Eventually we'll up with a Resale contract, but FOMO never goes away and not being able to use points at newer resorts (looking at Lakeshore Lodge) is the biggest reason that we have three contracts that are all resale. The FOMO doesn't go away :)

I’m in the camp of being a hybrid owner…. as it provides the best of both worlds.

I purchased resale first to get the Use Year I wanted and then Disney matched the Use Year and I got the discounted Member Add On Pricing Incentives when I purchased my direct points.

I feel you on this! I know the price difference is extreme, but I really wanted all the perks. Bought my 150 during the recent RunDisney weekend! So excited to be starting this journey. If I ever purchase additional points, it'll be via resale now that I have my blue card.

Awesome! How did you land on PBV as your home resort? Just your favorite or were you driven by incentives, etc.?

We first bought GFV direct when they were having that fire sale a few years ago. We sold back the first year's points to get the effective price down even further. We love GF but also the difference in price with that sale between direct and resale was negligible, and I was able to charge the purchase to get the cash back with my credit cards getting the price down even closer.

When we decided to add on I wanted to go CCV resale but waiting to find a good price on my use year at the points I wanted was taking forever. When the Poly direct pricing incentives got closer to resale I decided to just add on direct at Poly. I haven't stayed in the tower yet but I really love Wailulu.

It sounds like you're really looking at the pros and cons. I'd probably only buy direct at Poly at this time, any other resort the differences in price are just too much.

We have a Feb use year as we also tend to travel at Spring Break the most, but have gone at most times of the year.

Disney is heavily incentivizing RIV right now making it an equal contender with PBV when comparing direct vs. resale cost. (It's still considerably higher than resale but they are equally higher than comparable resale contracts at each of these resorts). I'm thankful we are going to make one extra trip as a family to step foot at each property and tour the villas and grounds to see where our hearts guide us. Our first instinct was to dismiss RIV as a possibility but it is intriguing.

I did feel like it was a decent deal as far as direct goes, and it's on the lower side for dues. Toured there and really loved it. Plus there's a bit of nostalgia at play. I was a young child when WDW opened in '71 and my family camped at Fort Wilderness in the first couple of months. Back then, if you were staying on any property, you could go to any other property to use the pools and other amenities. I remember being so fascinated with the Poly and felt like I was literally in another world! I'm excited to be "welcomed home" there!

Our experience with direct was super easy - our guide was informative and helped me through all the questions I had after watching videos and confirmed nearly everything that I read or watched. He never felt pushy and continues to be easy to reach out to whenever I have any questions.

After we became members, they sent out a welcome home gift that was pretty cool. I've seen cross body bags at the DVC desks so I'm not sure if they hand those out if you sign up during your trip. Regardless, they seem very thoughtful and low pressure.

36 Days Until Meeting Our In-Person DVC Meeting in Orlando

We are currently awaiting the release of any Summer incentives. Hopefully the new incentives will rival that of what has been offered this Spring. As we currently stand, our lean is towards a Polynesian direct purchase. Since we already have a fall trip planned that is paid for, it would seem reasonable to take advantage of the Magical Beginnings buy back if that is still going on next month. We are leaning towards a Feb or March UY. The possibility of resale is not off the table. I received a little swag package in the mail from my brief interaction with a DVC guide on the Disney Wish two weeks ago. I did not want to sacrifice our valuable time while we were on the ship but I stopped and just said hello, tapped my MagicBand and that was enough for them to gather my info and send some little goodies to our home. Now we have a small magnetic DVC whiteboard on our fridge staring at me all the time as if I didn't have DVC on my mind enough already! 🤣

One final step in our decision process is a meeting with our investment advisor next week. We fully recognize that a DVC purchase is a luxury and not a financial investment, and we want to approach it with clear eyes. Just because we have the ability to buy now doesn’t automatically mean it’s the wisest use of discretionary spending at our stage of life. Our advisor serves as a fiduciary, so I expect an honest conversation about opportunity cost and what these funds could become if invested elsewhere over time.

We genuinely value having that objective, third-party perspective so we can understand the long-term implications and feel confident that we’re making a thoughtful choice — not just an emotional one.

At the same time, tomorrow is never promised. My wife and I have spent many years prioritizing saving and planning for the future, often passing on opportunities to truly treat ourselves. If we move forward with DVC, it would be a very intentional exception — one rooted in creating shared experiences and memories that have already meant a great deal to our family.

It 100% is an emotional purchase, in my opinion :). The only way that you can sort of convince yourself it's not is that eventually you'll be saving money and it'll "pay for itself" from those savings as retail resort pricing goes up.

But we're talking many years before that can even possibly be a reality :)

I will say I'm right there with you on the saving and planning fo rthe future and like you said, tommorow is never promised. Some of my best memories are with my family at the resorts and that's not something you can put a price on.

I agree, it is an emotional purchase. We bought DVD on my very 1st WDW trip in 2011! It sounds crazy, but we were newly married, no kids yet, but I saw how much my husband loved going to Disney and I saw what our future family trips would look like! We have done adults only trips, we have gone with kids, and we have taken grandparents for multigenerational trips (My father in law is also a huge Disney Parks fan). And yes, we bought direct, and I have no regrets. That being said, I am on the hunt for a Poly resale in my use year :)

We also talked to our financial planner and she’s been supportive of our Disney time as important family time and a reasonable use of funds. I wholeheartedly agree too with your note that you have to cherish the moment and spend money on your self and family to enjoy what you love now. Good luck!

If you're worried that you're going to feel left out, and want to go Direct... and think/know you're going to hold this thing forever... depending on your age I'd do Riviera...

Long term I think it will offer more utility than AKV or Polynesian... Now, if you're a Polynesian lover, I'd say buy that...

If you want AKV, just buy resale and save your money for a direct contract at a resort that strikes your heart.

This won't be the last contract you buy... believe me!

Thanks for sharing. Our family tends to spend the most time in MK. This remains unchanged from the time before we had a child. Really do love the Skyliner but we are still leaning towards the Poly. We have spent very little time at the Riviera so it is hard to gage our real feelings about making it our home resort. Looking forward to our tour next month! Riviera and Poly direct incentives are both the most attractive right now.