Buying OKW direct - advice for UK first timer

[Becky19]

Hi everyone, me and my partner have decided that we're going to buy DVC this year. We've done lots of research and after weighing up the pros and cons have decided we'd like to buy direct with Disney.

We have our hearts set on OKW, I'm aware that I will need to ask to be put on a waitlist until these become available. I'm from the UK and will be over in Orlando on 29th September for two weeks. Can anyone offer advice on the best way to go about this? Should I wait until I'm over there and hope the points I'm after are available, or is it better if I get in touch weeks/months before my trip? We will be wanting 100 points with a December, February or March UY.

Thanks in advance

 

[holden]

I’d wait until the COVID-19 pandemic has ended before you travel here or purchase anything Disney. Things are very uncertain in the States right now.

 

[MICKIMINI]

Prices look to be dropping for resales. You can buy a 2057 OKW in resale though they are not as plentiful as 2042. Start looking at resale sites as the savings are substantial and most of them are in the Orlando area if you make an offer bring $$.

 

[Becky19]

I’d wait until the COVID-19 pandemic has ended before you travel here or purchase anything Disney. Things are very uncertain in the States right now.

Thanks for your reply - yes definitely won't be doing anything until things are starting to go back to normal. I already have flights/hotel/tickets booked so I'm hoping my trip will still go ahead and the situation has improved by then. If not we are hoping to come again May 2021 and will do it then.

I'm really just wondering if OKW is likely to be available at the time or if I should call them a month or so in advance so then a contract is ready for me when I'll be over.

 

[Becky19]

Prices look to be dropping for resales. You can buy a 2057 OKW in resale though they are now as plentiful as 2042. Start looking at resale sites as the savings are substantial and most of them are in the Orlando area if you make an offer bring $$.

I have had a look at resale, and did consider it. I think for our first time we want to buy 100 points direct so we have access to the benefits, and then will purchase resale to top that up.

 

[MICKIMINI]

Are you planning on buying AP's? Are you aware that any benefits are subject to change at any time? Honestly, it might be the time to buy a resale first (choose you UY well) and then buy a direct after things settle down. I'm not trying to talk you out of direct, but I've been in this since 1996 and there have been many changes over the years. Just do your homework and read, read, read before you make a decision. Best of luck!

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Do you need an AP? The British ticket offers are often better than an AP.

 

[Becky19]

Do you need an AP? The British ticket offers are often better than an AP.

Our tickets are good value, I've paid £429 (about $530) for a 14 day ultimate ticket. I believe to upgrade this to the gold AP it's around $150. So we are planning to upgrade this in October as we will be coming again in May and hopefully September 2021. We also spend quite a lot on merch so for now at least I feel like the AP is worthwhile.

 

[Kevinth]

Hi Becky
We are proud UK owners at OKW. We have stayed there many times with our friends (also UK) who have owned there for 20 years and last year we finally bought a 150pts contract from resale. We studied hard and decided the price premium for direct just was not worth the very limited extras (that they can take away at any time remember). We paid $95 a point and Disney were wanting $188 per point. As much as we do feel like Disney has managed to create a second class of ownership by their actions (and it really wrankles let me tell you!) less than half price on the contract was the only thing that made sense to us. The process was really straightforward and caused us no problems except when we came to pay, the UK company was trying to pay in the wrong format so that caused us a short delay. (The company we bought from needed a wire transfer and the company we used was trying a different system which was not acceptable, once we found out it was easily sorted). We were due to check in 8th of May this year and we used some points banked from 2018 which expire on June 1st so we are currently waiting to see what Disney will do about it. Choosing your use year is crucial and make sure you buy enough to cover the time and unit size you are going to need. I have a strong feeling that if you wait for 6 months or so prices on resale will take a hit from all of this and despite Disney using ROFR they won't be able to prop up the market to the extent they usually can. If you are desperate to go ASAP why don't you look at renting points to use soon and put off your purchase for a bit longer? Checkout Pete's brilliant videos on DVC ownership they are incredibly informative regarding the extras and best use of points etc and were a massive help when we were considering our purchase.

 

[Becky19]

Thanks for that, I think I will do some more number crunching regarding resale and see what will work out better for us. I think my partner will take a lot of convincing though as he is adamant about buying direct.

We will need to finance which is why I was leaning towards direct - my partner has poor credit and wouldn't be approved for a loan over here, and I will be remortgaging in the not so distant future and so can't have a loan affecting how much I can borrow.

I know the interest rate with Disney is terrible but it's a big positive for us that it doesn't show on our credit records here in the UK. We would plan to put 20% down payment and get the loan over 5 years, overpaying as much as we can.

But I think I'll definitely keep an eye on what the current situation does to the resale market, I didn't really consider that.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

A good underwriting process will see the monthly payments being made and they will still ask you about them. They are pretty big payments.

 

[The Jackal]

Thanks for your reply - yes definitely won't be doing anything until things are starting to go back to normal. I already have flights/hotel/tickets booked so I'm hoping my trip will still go ahead and the situation has improved by then. If not we are hoping to come again May 2021 and will do it then.

I'm really just wondering if OKW is likely to be available at the time or if I should call them a month or so in advance so then a contract is ready for me when I'll be over.

I would guess that there is a good chance they will have 100 points. They can make it whatever use year you want. In the past, prior to DVC being able to re-assign use years, we were able to just call up and get a 100 point contract.

 

[robert symonds]

Nnn

Thanks for that, I think I will do some more number crunching regarding resale and see what will work out better for us. I think my partner will take a lot of convincing though as he is adamant about buying direct.

We will need to finance which is why I was leaning towards direct - my partner has poor credit and wouldn't be approved for a loan over here, and I will be remortgaging in the not so distant future and so can't have a loan affecting how much I can borrow.

I know the interest rate with Disney is terrible but it's a big positive for us that it doesn't show on our credit records here in the UK. We would plan to put 20% down payment and get the loan over 5 years, overpaying as much as we can.

But I think I'll definitely keep an eye on what the current situation does to the resale market, I didn't really consider that.

You can get a loan for resale contracts with monevo. They don't do any credit checks. They loan to international buyers. If your going to put down 20% or so deposit your get a rate between 10.9-12.9% Apr

 

[Becky19]

Nnn
You can get a loan for resale contracts with monevo. They don't do any credit checks. They loan to international buyers. If your going to put down 20% or so deposit your get a rate between 10.9-12.9% Apr

Thank you, I'll definitely look into that

 

[TandemShoehorns]

Thanks for that, I think I will do some more number crunching regarding resale and see what will work out better for us. I think my partner will take a lot of convincing though as he is adamant about buying direct.

We will need to finance which is why I was leaning towards direct - my partner has poor credit and wouldn't be approved for a loan over here, and I will be remortgaging in the not so distant future and so can't have a loan affecting how much I can borrow.

I know the interest rate with Disney is terrible but it's a big positive for us that it doesn't show on our credit records here in the UK. We would plan to put 20% down payment and get the loan over 5 years, overpaying as much as we can.

But I think I'll definitely keep an eye on what the current situation does to the resale market, I didn't really consider that.

In our experience, the resale process takes much longer than buying direct. Consider allowing more time if you want the points by a specific date.

 

[Pluto80]

We’re UK owners at OKW, and absolutely love it! I think if it were me, I’d go and do the tour while I was over there, and then say you wanted to buy into OKW. Going on the tour is so much fun, and you often get some perks for doing it

 

[eva]

Hi Becky
We are proud UK owners at OKW. We have stayed there many times with our friends (also UK) who have owned there for 20 years and last year we finally bought a 150pts contract from resale. We studied hard and decided the price premium for direct just was not worth the very limited extras (that they can take away at any time remember). We paid $95 a point and Disney were wanting $188 per point. As much as we do feel like Disney has managed to create a second class of ownership by their actions (and it really wrankles let me tell you!) less than half price on the contract was the only thing that made sense to us. The process was really straightforward and caused us no problems except when we came to pay, the UK company was trying to pay in the wrong format so that caused us a short delay. (The company we bought from needed a wire transfer and the company we used was trying a different system which was not acceptable, once we found out it was easily sorted). We were due to check in 8th of May this year and we used some points banked from 2018 which expire on June 1st so we are currently waiting to see what Disney will do about it. Choosing your use year is crucial and make sure you buy enough to cover the time and unit size you are going to need. I have a strong feeling that if you wait for 6 months or so prices on resale will take a hit from all of this and despite Disney using ROFR they won't be able to prop up the market to the extent they usually can. If you are desperate to go ASAP why don't you look at renting points to use soon and put off your purchase for a bit longer? Checkout Pete's brilliant videos on DVC ownership they are incredibly informative regarding the extras and best use of points etc and were a massive help when we were considering our purchase.

The $188 a point you mentioned for OKW, did that include the 15 year extension? Or does it expire in 2042?

 

[CarolMN]

The $188 a point you mentioned for OKW, did that include the 15 year extension? Or does it expire in 2042?

All OKW direct purchases will have the 2057 expiration date. For resale, it depends on the contract.