I’m Planning Our First Direct Purchase — Follow Along

Here is the general rule about DVC direct sales - the cheapest time to buy is today (or, more accurately, the current incentive period). What Disney does is just slowly raise the price over time. You might find an incentive period here or there that was better than the last one, but direct prices generally only go in one direction - up.

Now, that said, Poly went on sale in late 2024. And, in that time, Poly prices haven't gone up that much. And, by waiting to buy, you pay less in dues, which partially offsets the increase in prices. So, the difference between having bought Poly in December 2024 and buying today, especially over the life of the contract, is not a huge difference. Riviera has been in active sales a lot longer - it had the unfortunate circumstance of opening just before the world shut down for COVID and, if it weren't for that, probably would have sold out a couple of years ago. So, yeah, you probably would have made out quite a bit better buying back in 2019 or 2020 than today. But, that's a bit of a one off situation for DVC resorts in active sales.

I do think there is a pretty good chance Riviera is declared sold out before LSL opens. Not 100%, but probably 80%-90% chance it will be declared sold out before LSL goes on sale. So, if you decide to wait, you'll probably have to shop between Poly and LSL. As to whether either of them will have a better deal when LSL first opens? Hard to say. LSL is going to be the first hotel/DVC resort at WDW in quite some time. The Poly Island Tower was an add-on, Riviera is a DVC only resort, and CFW is sort of a niche product. LSL is probably going to be in active sales for a long time. And, it is probably going to have a 2074-2076 expiration date. I doubt LSL will open with huge incentives. Disney will probably want to test the waters and see what the demand looks like before offering more generous incentives.

If I were in your shoes, this is what I would do. Tour Poly and Riviera. See if you fall in love with one of those resorts. If you do, just go ahead and buy at one of them, especially Riviera. If Riviera isn't doing it for you, but you quite like Poly, but think there is a good chance you will really love LSL, I would personally wait until LSL goes on sale.

In the meantime, go buy a cheap resale SSR contract, use it to stay in the original Poly longhouse studios - they're pretty easy to get into at 7 months (the tower, not so much). See just how much you really like or love Poly. Then, when LSL comes along, go tour it and see what you think. Make a final decision then. Sell your resale SSR points if you don't want/need them.

I know the idea of waiting is hard, so I wouldn't blame you one bit if you decided to act now. I probably couldn't resist either. But, it's the advice I would give if you don't love Riviera, like Poly, but think you might really love LSL.

If you follow @airjay75 's advice (which I wholeheartedly agree with) and end up with a resale SSR contract, then your pricing changes to member pricing which can actually be quite the difference.

When we purchased direct, we received 11 or 14 dollars off per point @ Poly (235/pt base cost) and now it would be up to 21 dollars off per point for a similar sized contract (243/pt base cost).

In the scenario where we were to buy a resale contract how much time must pass after closing before eligible for those existing member promos? Or is it immediate? I thought I may have read 1 year?

Unfortunately, I cannot answer that one accurately. We purchased direct @ Poly last year so the incentives for Add-On were existing. From what I was told, you had to wait till the next promotional cycle but I cannot confirm.

It's a pretty substantial difference between first time and add-on. 200 points is 9/pt off and 300 points is 17/pt off if purchasing direct without currently being a member. It's 18/pt and 21/pt respectively for add-on.

EDIT:
1. Have you checked with your guide to see if they're still offering 500.00 off if you are a D23 Gold member?
2. Have you checked about have a referral? That saved us another 500.00 when we purchased the direct contract.

Interesting. Yes the D23 Gold is confirmed and we qualify for AP $1000 off. We have two cash rooms already planned through 2026 so we are going to opt for Magical Beginnings if we sign on too. That's worth $4000 at 200 pts.

We did Magical Beginning as well - that went a long way to cementing the Direct for us. We've put some of the benefits to good use already.

Once you are a DVC member, you're a member and you qualify for member pricing. I bought a CCV resale contract just last month. The current timeline from offer accepted to points in a DVC member account takes 30-45 days. Disney has been processing ROFR and the contract administration part of resale contracts very quickly recently. The only real variable is how long it takes the seller to return their closing documents (which they have to notarize). But, if you had an offer on a resale contract accepted today, you should have a DVC member account with points in it by the end of June at the latest. (Caveat: Some resale contracts do have delayed closing dates on account of the seller having reservations they have yet to complete.).

The 1-year you might have heard about is for member financing. There is a lower financing rate for members who have been a member for at least 1 year. If you're not financing through DVC, doesn't matter.

The 1 year is for fianancing without a credit check, and it's 1 year of dues without being late to qualify.

We bought direct during an Old Key West sale a couple of years ago. We first bought 150 points and then quickly realized it was a REALLY good sale (160pp direct with magical beginnings) and bought another 150 point contact about a month later and qualified for member add on pricing.

Add On contracts also qualify for magical beginnings.

I think LSL is going to be easy to get into between the large resort size - those resorts tend to be easy to get into - and resale restrictions - which means not everyone will be able to get in. Now, at first it might be tricky because it won't all be declared, but I'm sure over time it will be.

You'll take a haircut on the points when you sell most likely - prior to the new tower Poly was going for around $140 pp for example - and you'll have some friction costs like close to 10% commission and Estoppel to Disney... but, it might not be a huge haircut... you'd have to want to do the math...

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

Just some quick thoughts. I have been all over the place bouncing around from one resort to another. So I've gone back to the basics. What type of DVC structure would be most similar to how we like to vacation now? And this usually translates to a week at Spring Break plus a long weekend in the fall. Our budget allows for 200 points at AKL or Poly. Oddly enough our cost at closing would be almost dollar for dollar the same when you compare the lower cost/pt for AKL vs. the stacked incentives with Poly. My spreadsheet has also proven to me that when comparing the overall lifetime cost of ownership of these two they are neck and neck ($147/yr more to own at Poly average over life of contract). I've allowed for the fact that Poly has a longer contract life than AKL. I've also considered an inflation rate at each that makes sense for their historical increases.

The reality is, with 200 points, only AKL points charts would allow for the two trips whereas Poly would restrict us from traveling only once a year for the same out of pocket cost.

I ask myself, does it still make sense to own at Poly if our actual vacation habits would typically tend to stay more than just a single week? If I'm very honest at the end of the day, I think we value having more nights on property than exactly where our accommodations are. We are super planners and have no issue of booking at 11-month window so having priority booking for rooms that cost less points seems to make sense.

I realize the cost delta between AKL direct vs. resale is big. We place a lot of value on the ability to have flexibility to use our points at the newer and up and coming resorts so we want our first batch of points to be direct.

So I'm stuck on this question now....given that they will cost us nearly the same on a per-year basis and that we want to stretch our points should we own at Poly or AKL?

For context, regardless of which we choose now, our longer term plan would be to add on 100-150 AKL resale points with matching UY when we can.

I would suggest starting with AKV resale and giving yourself some time to get into this DVC game. AKV at $215/point direct is not going anywhere. If you buy resale first, you can think about taking advantage of an AKV flash sale when it comes along if you decide you'd like more AKV points.

IOW, if you're not going to buy at one of the actively selling resorts - Poly or RIV - there just isn't much of a rush to buy points. And, even at Poly or RIV, by waiting to buy, sure, the price increases incrementally, but that is offset by paying less in dues. The only real rush is with respect to one of those resorts selling out and Disney increasing the price precipitously. In the next year, only RIV has that risk. Poly is not selling out in the next 12 months.

The only thing you're going to miss out on by not buying direct now are the discounted Sorcerer's Passes for you and your family. You can save over $100/point by buying AKV resale over direct. On 150 points, that's $15,000. A family of 4 is only going save about $2k by buying Sorcerer's Passes over the Inspire Pass.

I think it would be helpful in your decision-making process to determine what you prioritize more: owning direct, with the privileges and member benefits that come along with that decision, or stretching your points as far as they can go.

If the first priority is direct ownership, then Poly direct would seem to clearly be superior to buying AKL direct. If the priority is stretching your points, as airjay points out, saving $100/pt resale at AKL would be the better choice. I would be very hard-pressed to pay such a premium to own direct at AKL.

The compromise to me, seeing that direct looks to be your stronger preference, is to buy direct at the Poly, booking a trip there at the 11-month mark, and then if you want to stretch your points, then modify to AKL (or SSR or OKW) at the 7-month mark. I can pretty much guarantee you that you’ll have availability at those resorts with more desirable point charts. This is also what I would do if put in your shoes. And as someone who first bought resale (at the Poly, coincidentally) and then bought a direct contract (at GF), I completely get wanting to have access to the direct member benefits. I have not once regretted the decision to buy direct.

This is where resale value would come jnto play for me. I onow that no one olans on selling when making their first dvc purchse, but it happens. $170-180 per point at Poly or $120-140 at AKL?

Anither thing to kick around is if you want access to AKL club level or value studios. If you own at AKL, you at least have a very small chance at scoring ine if those rooms.

Im just throwing a few questions out rather than trting to guide you either way. I honestly dont think there is a wrong decision here. Bith resorts are easy to get into at 7 months. Of the club or value studios arent inportant to you, maybe Poly is the way to go? Again, good luck with your decision!

Since you place a lot of value on direct points for use at newer resorts, I'd go with Poly direct--AKV direct is a poor value, and you mention you plan on adding AKV resale later on anyway. I'm a big fan of having more than one home resort with matching UYs. You get the home resort advantage at each and can still combine points when needed at the 7-month mark pretty easily (minus any restrictions).

I will add that, personally, I put less emphasis on resale value than a lot of people do, especially if you're buying direct points. You are going to take a loss if you ever sell direct points, even Poly. I don't think one should buy direct points unless you are planning to keep those for the very long term - I'd say a minimum of 10 years, but ideally 20+ years. And, if you keep it that long, who knows what resale value will be. And, to me, it won't really matter, because I will have gotten many years and many vacations out of it - and the dues over that period of time will have been more money than any upfront buy in cost. If it has some salvage value after all of that, fantastic. If not, I got many years of fantastic vacations out of it.

Now, if you're buying resale, the calculus is much different. Sure, average resale prices will probably slowly decrease over time, but we've got a lot of history. If you get a good enough deal on a resale contract, you can buy it, use it for one year, sell it, and you could actually make money. You don't need to keep resale contracts for the long-term because you bought in at a resale price, so you can sell it at a resale price. IOW, your sunk costs are much, much lower.

So, where I primarily care about resale value is the resale value today - that is, how much less expensive are resale points today, and what am I trading off if I get those instead of direct points?

For Poly, you save maybe $40-$50/point by going resale. For AKV, you save around $105-$115/point. They're both O14 resorts, so they can both be used at a lot of resorts. So, that is a clear trade off and it will get more significant over time. You can't get the Sorcerer's Pass, so that is a small loss every year you might have otherwise gotten with direct points. All the other direct benefits? They're mostly fluff and most definitely not worth the direct points premium IMO.

RIV is a bit different because, although you can save $100-$110/point by going resale, there is a huge trade off being able to use those points only at RIV. So, buying direct RIV points comes with a huge benefit over resale RIV and is, arguably, worth the premium if RIV is a resort you love and you plan to keep those points for the long-term.

I do think Poly direct is a very good deal too because you don't actually save a whole lot by buying resale - the spread is just much lower. But, AKV direct? I'd rather take the extra money I would have spent and buy more resale points.

This 100%.

The only real reason to choose direct over resale, in my opinion, is restricted resort availability.

This is huge for me and why I ended up going with direct... that and OKW direct points were on sale for ~160pp 2 years ago when we bought our first contract(s). We bought a 150-point contract, quickly realized we should have bought more and bought another 150 point contract about 3 weeks later (at a reduced rate since we were now members at that time).

We should have bought more :D

If you buy direct and add more later at same resort are you still subject to closing costs and documentation fees?

Yes. Closing costs will be imposed on every separate DVC purchase, whether direct or resale. When buying direct, you can split your points purchase up into smaller contracts and they charge a document prep fee for each contract split - when I did it, it was $250 doc fee per contract, although I believe I have heard they've raised that to $300. For example, when I purchased my first 300 RIV points, I had it broken up into 2 150 point contracts, and paid an extra $250 to have that done. If you're only buying 150 points and it is your first direct purchase, I personally would not bother having it broken up any smaller, but some people do.

Thanks again all, as always! To summarize all of this advice:

• There is no urgency to buy AKL direct. The price it is today will not likely go anywhere soon.

• Resale AKL is a really strong discount so there really is not much justification financially to pay the large premium.

• A direct Poly contract probably makes the most sense for us because we value access to newer resorts, membership extras, Sorcerer Pass eligibility, just the overall value of being a full member.

• The fact that we plan to buy some AKL resale later to supplement will solve some of my initial concerns on access to get some of the harder to get rooms there. We aren't seeking the Value Studios or CL rooms right now so this sounds reasonable.

• We will always have to option to book Poly at 11 months to secure our primary trip and can always modify at 7-months if we want to try to stretch points.

• The fact that our plan is to be in this for full contract term makes the math work a lot better. The likelihood is high we would lose money if we ever sold direct points.

• Yes, direct comes at a premium but it will give us more flexibility as DVC continues to evolve.

• Poly comes with a smaller resale "penalty". The premium to buy direct is not nearly as great as it is for AKL.

One thing i would have done differently is to buy 2 contracts instead of one. So I can easily leave one to each kid as I grow older. Something to keep in mind if this applies to you.

Did the same - purchased two contracts direct with the intent that we would add more points along the way to have a total of four contracts eventually for the four kids.

And, even if you're not thinking about passing them onto your kids, it can be helpful to break them up for resale purposes should that ever happen. Smaller contracts are generally much easier to sell than larger ones and still seem to fetch a premium despite the new $500 CAF. I did my direct point purchases with both things in mind. A lot of different ways to do it depending on what you're trying to accomplish. That said, for a single 150 point purchase, I'm not sure I'd bother breaking that up because, if you did, the individual contracts would not, by themselves, qualify for direct member benefits. I'd only break that up if you thought you could potentially sell part of it in connection with buying more direct points somewhere else.

15 Days Until Our In-Person DVC Meeting in Orlando

Over the past few weeks we’ve continued refining our thought process as we prepare for our upcoming in-person meeting with our direct guide. He checked in today, which gave us a good opportunity to walk through where our thinking currently stands.

At this point, we continue to come back to the idea that our family will likely realize the most long-term value from having 11-month booking priority at Animal Kingdom Lodge. While Polynesian and Riviera are beautiful resorts and clearly strong options for many members, our personal travel goals place a higher priority on availability and trip length rather than tying ourselves to a specific flagship resort.

We discussed a potential strategy of purchasing Polynesian or Riviera points while planning to primarily stay at AKL using the 7-month window in order to stretch points further. Our guide understandably advised caution with that approach, since availability at 7 months can never be guaranteed. The more we reflect on it, the more we recognize that relying on that strategy introduces uncertainty into what we ultimately want to be a predictable vacation framework.

Our goal for a future 200-point contract is relatively simple: we would like consistent access to roughly 10 studio nights per year, with approximately seven of those nights falling into a higher-tier season. The specific resort matters less to us than maintaining trip length and avoiding situations where we feel pressured into split stays simply to make points work. While we don’t mind split stays occasionally, we would prefer them to be a choice rather than a necessity.

Because of that, we find ourselves leaning back toward owning at AKL again. We fully recognize—and appreciate—that many members view the shorter remaining contract life at AKL as a meaningful consideration. That concern is valid. For some buyers, maximizing expiration date and long-term ownership horizon is the most important factor. Others prioritize resale savings, flexibility, or access to newer resorts. One of the strengths of DVC is that there truly isn’t a single “correct” strategy; each family balances contract length, upfront cost, dues, and usage patterns differently based on what makes the most sense for their situation.

From a financial standpoint, purchasing AKL resale would save roughly $20,000 upfront, which is significant and impossible to ignore. However, when that premium is viewed across the remaining life of the contract, it effectively becomes about $667 per year over 30 years. Since annual dues remain the same whether points are purchased resale or direct, our internal question becomes whether that annualized difference is worth the benefits associated with direct ownership and Blue Card eligibility.

Importantly, we don’t envision Polynesian or Riviera as our primary yearly destinations. Those resorts would likely serve as occasional “splurge” vacations rather than our baseline stay. Owning there could unintentionally push us toward shorter trips—potentially reducing us to seven-night stays simply to remain comfortable within a 200-point budget—which runs counter to how we want to use DVC.

Ultimately, our current thinking centers on aligning ownership with how we actually vacation, not just where we aspire to stay occasionally. For our family, reliability of booking, maintaining longer stays, and minimizing logistical complexity appear to outweigh maximizing contract length or chasing theoretical flexibility at the 7-month window.

We also fully recognize that reasonable members can—and do—arrive at different conclusions. Every DVC purchase reflects a personal strategy shaped by travel style, financial priorities, and long-term plans. I always thought this would be a much more straightforward decision but it has proven to be the complete opposite. This is simply where our evaluation has currently led us as we try to make the decision that fits our family best. I've very much appreciate everyone's input and following along thus far. Curious on your thoughts on where we stand now! Thanks, everyone!

thank you for sharing this thought process!

I've also enjoyed following along in your journey and reading the perspectives of so many of our members. Purchasing DVC is a significant financial commitment but also a deeply personal one -- a decision that doesn't have one clear objectively "correct" answer.

If stretching your points is a primary priority (and understandably so), then your reasons for favoring AKL make complete sense. I would also agree with your Guide and advise you to purchase at the resort you are most apt to want to stay at. Purchasing a contract at one resort with the primary desire to book at a separate resort does bring uncertainty into your vacation planning.

That said, the decison to purchase at AKL and the decision to purchase direct from DVC, I think, do warrant separate consideration. And while I'm certain you have run through these various scenarios (and more) many times during your journey, that $20,000 upfront savings you mention is significant. And it does compound significantly when taking into consideration the time value of money and the 30-year contract length at AKL (over $200K at an 8% interest rate). This is why several members have questioned not the decision to purchase direct, nor the decision to purchase AKL, but rather the decision to couple those two choices together.

A couple of additional thoughts:

(1) Purchasing AKL direct does allow you booking access at all current and future DVC resorts (a perk mentioned previously as being attractive). But again, to your most recent point above, purchasing a contract at one resort with a desire to use those points at a separate resort is no guarantee;

(2) The maintenance fees at AKL ($10+) are higher than most resorts (e.g., the Poly @ $8.33) and will likely remain higher given the savanna operating costs. At 200 points, that's an additional $365 per year (using 2026 deltas).

Final thought: reiterating what I stated above, purchasing DVC is a personal and financial decision. You have an excellent grasp of both of those components, so make your decision with confidence. If I solely "followed the numbers" in my DVC journey, then I most assuredly wouldn't own 450 points spread across three different resorts 🤪! And yet, I wouldn't want it any other way!

Thank you for taking us on your journey! Animal Kingdom Lodge is one of my favorites and I hope to own their someday, too. Important question - would you join via the original Lodge/Jambo or Kidani?

It's my understanding it is all one association. 🙂

Yes, it’s one association. You’d have home resort priority at either building.

You hit the nail on the head with one point from my perspective: Availability is key. Silly to buy a home resort where even those owners have a tough time getting what they want in the 11 month window. What did you pay a premium for? More lottery tickets to book at your home resort? And when it doesn’t work out you have to chase 7 month availability elsewhere? Makes no sense to me. “But I love xyz” is not a rationale to spend more money for something you won’t even necessarily get.

Be careful with using “life of the contract” to make the difference between resale and direct look small. Its not. $20k today is a lot of money. Conservatively grown over “the life of the contract” is an insane amount of money. This is DVC Guide math that helps someone leaning towards buy “rationalize” the splurge.

If you won’t be happy unless you have the blue card and can afford it, go for it. But the salesman math doesn’t change that its big money.

Thank you. Of course I agree it is a lot of money. I am going to chew on this and what @Owen pointed out. It's true we could keep that $20K in an investment account if we sacrifice the blue card. My wife and I are placing value on ability to stay at newer DVC resorts beyond the original 14 and hope to reap the benefits of whatever direct perks there are over the years. At this point, we have decided if a DVC contract is signed it will be direct. I had already looked at the opportunity cost of keeping the full DVC purchase price invested and continuing to cash flow our vacations. Because we could also be happy staying at Pop or AoA DVC will be a premium experience no matter how we go about it.

Thanks. I will be pondering this.

Alright. I honestly think narrowing this down to AKV as the place you love and want home resort priority is good. I'm not going to try to talk you in to Poly or Riviera. Here is what I would do.

Cancel your in person meeting with your guide. Tell him you need a little more time and will meet with him virtually in late June or July.

Decide on the UY you want and go buy a small resale contract with that UY now. It honestly doesn't matter which resort - just become a member. I'd probably see what is out there for AKV or SSR. But, any resort will work. It is May 14th. You'll have those points in a DVC account well before July 21st, the date on which the current incentive period ends. (Don't buy a resale contract with a delayed closing.)

After you're a member, you can now take advantage of the AKV flash sale that is on right now - https://dvcfan.com/news/spring-2026-dvc-incentives-revealed/. If you buy 200 points, you will save $5,600 on a direct points purchase. If you buy 150 points, you'll save $3,300. But, you aren't eligible for this unless you are a current DVC member.

You can figure out what you want to do with that resale contract later. Sell it, rent out the points and then sell it, or just use it as a few extra points to supplement your direct points - you're eventually going to want more anyways 🙂.

That's what I would do.

Don’t you have to be a member for x amount of time to get this discount?

No. If you're a member, you qualify. You have to be a member for one year to take advantage of member financing.

Way to make things interesting, @airjay75! Thanks. I hadn't considered this...

No problem. It probably sounds like a pain to do what I'm suggesting, but it really isn't all that difficult. I've actually purchased 2 resale contracts in the past 3 months, and processing times for resale contracts are super fast right now. My most recent one was 29 days from offer accepted to points in my account. Given that current incentives go through July 21st, you have time to do this. If I knew I wanted to buy AKV direct and I were in your shoes, that is what I would do. But, time is money too, so I would understand if you went in a different direction. Also, if you decide to slow things downs, I highly doubt this will be the last AKV flash sale. If you search through the history at dvcnews.com, I think Disney has consistently had flash sales on AKV at least once a year for the past few years..

Care to speculate if there would be a member add on incentive for Lakeshore early on or would Disney usually wait to see how sales go for awhile? Maybe we just get a small resale contract now and hold and just spectate for awhile longer....

Member add-on prices are pretty much always lower than new member pricing. I fully expect that to continue with LSL. As to how much? Hard to say, but I would be very surprised if there wasn't some discount for existing DVC members looking to add-on vs. new DVC members.

For what it's worth, I bought VDH direct in April a month or so after I bought resale. I didn't get official member financing but was able to get a 9.99% rate nonetheless.

Listening to this week’s show, it kade me think of this thread and where you’re at with your purchase being just a few days out. Any major changes or updates?

Maybe a little anticlimactic but thanks to @airjay75's comment, we decided to make an offer on a TINY 25-point Saratoga resale contract a week ago that was immediately accepted. It's currently pending ROFR. Assuming this goes through we will likely "add-on" our direct contract once we are closed and have a membership number. As I am typing this we have not canceled our DVC meeting for Friday yet but most likely will. I can't expect our Guide to be able to give us the add-on pricing since we will not be able to close that quickly. I am going to call our Guide assuming I hear back about ROFR today or tomorrow so I get the best advice on how to move forward. I assume our only option will be to wait until June/July to buy direct when our resale contract is finalized since we are interested in add-on pricing incentives.

Good luck with ROFR and the add on! I plan to add on direct at some point and appreciate you sharing these uodates. Our spring 2026 add on resalr at BRV passed ROFR super fast - like five or so days.

Smart move. Very smart. I would mention this to your guide. I have heard of circumstances in the past where the guide has been able to get ROFR and/or the contract transfer process sped up to get you your membership and get the deal done. You'll still be dependent upon the seller getting their closing docs in and the title company closing the sale, but you have plenty of time before the current AKV sale ends. I think you're in good shape.

We spoke this afternoon. He ageed this strategy made perfect sense and made a comment that he was not allowed to share this type of advice. Very thankful for the guidance from you and this community. Would have been nice to finalize everything while we are in town through next week but we are now just at the mercy of the closing schedule. Oh well!

this was a very snart move since you wanted to take the AKV route. Great suggestion from @airjay75! Best of luck with the ROFR process. Our BWV resale contract passed pretty quickly back in January- it took forever for DVC to load the points though. Apparently someone on their end missed the email contianing our finalized docs. Once DVC resale market got ahold of them, we had points within the day.

This plan is backfiring on us. Our direct guide now tells us the AK fire sale will end June 8th (a different timeline than the standard summer promo that runs through July 21st). We thought we had this all planned out. Pretty frustrating really.

I'm thinking about writing a letter to Josh D'Amaro lol.

This is frustrating. I feel for you. What exactly has happened? Did you meet with them and they gave you pricing and told you it was only good for 7 days?

There have been some recent reports of guides being told that they cannot offer promotional pricing 7 days after a formal "tour" even though the incentives are technically still in place. This may be what your guide is doing. I have only read sporadic reports of this, and it is not what they have done in the past.

If I were you, I would still stick to your plan. Get your small resale contract closed and finalized then contact your guide and see if the AKV sale is still in place. See what they can do.

If the sale is not in place and they really are pulling it June 8th, then, unfortunately, there isn't anything you can do. They can pull incentives/sales at any time.

If the sale is still in place, but they're just refusing to sell because you're past your 7-day "tour" that happened when you weren't even a member, then I'd raise holy hell. (And you'll be able to tell whether the sale is still on simply by going to the add-on tool on the DVC member website once you're a member.).

Worst case, you've got your small resale contract and you're now a member, and you will still qualify for member add-on pricing. AKV will probably be up again for a flash sale within the year - they've been doing it once a year for the past few years. Or, you go back to Poly or RIV or LSL as possible options.

In short, there isn't anything you could have done to avoid this if they are in fact ending this sale June 8th. It was outside of your control. But, on the bright side, by doing this small resale first, you WILL save money if and when you buy direct. So, I totally feel your frustration, but just trying to see what is postiive here as well. Hope it is helpful.

I purposely did not do a "tour" yet. I simply went to the Riviera to meet my Guide to meet him face to face just as a friendly gesture. I'm the one that asked him about the verbiage in the terms of the Flash sale which only states a tour must be completed by June 8th but does not specify an expiration date. He took this to his management and they came back today telling him the Flash sale will end June 8th. I have written a letter to DVC management explaining my full situation and I told them in my opinion this verbiage was ambiguous and confusing and kindly asked if they could offer an extension in our circumstance. Figured it couldn't hurt to ask. Will see what they say!

Yes...worst-case scenario we will keep playing the waiting game. I think if this falls apart we will just wait to see what Lakeshore Lodge structure looks like. Our Guide offered unprompted speculation that the Fort Wilderness cabins will be rolled into DLL. This matches my suspicions.

Ok, got it. I will tell you that, just in the past year, Disney has been getting much less transparent with their direct sales. When I first bought just over one year ago, everyone could access the pricing sheets for any actively selling resort or one of the "sold out" resorts that was on a flash sale - they were publicly accessible web links and the sheet would tell you when the incentives or sale was ending.

They have been changing that since just December, and you have to contact your guide to get individualized pricing sheets. Very frustrating. I was spending the last 15 minutes or so searching the AKV flash sale for you to try and see if there is any information out there about when the flash sale is ending. I can't find anything. I think most of us have just been presuming it would follow the same timeline as the actively selling resorts, where those incentives last until July 21st.

I know I was considering the CCV flash sale this past December/January incentive period. I contacted my guide in December and she noted that the flash sale, although technically good until early February, could be pulled at any time. They didn't pull the sale, but they have actually done that in the past when the demand for a flash sale on an actively selling resort was good and the demand was more than they expected. That could have happened here - not sure.

Hoping this has a happy ending for you!