Buying in at just 150 points?

[Jen D]

We have not decided to buy yet; we are just chewing it over. It is certainly easy to get point fever reading these discussions! I have gone from calculating how far I can stretch 150 points, to being certain I can't live with a point less than 210, to thinking that my best bet is to start with a cool 270 and see if that will do. Slow down Nellie! This ain't Monopoly money.

We are two adults with one child, age four, no more on the way. We do not plan to attend more than once a year-- the prices of park tickets, plane tickets-- too much. I do admit to visions of occasional extended family gatherings (boy, and I'll probably regret it the second it finally happens.) Here's what I see us getting out of 150:

6 nights at a one-bedroom at the BCV in September.
10 nights, and change, at a studio, also BCV September.
6 nights at a BCV studio over President's Week (well, that requires 156 points, but there is always banking and borrowing
Maybe skipping a year, and getting a 2-bedroom for a week one year, in the off-season.

No it isn't certainly as much as we would like, and I'd certainly love to have enough to guarantee at least a one-bedroom for a seven days during any season (I count 318 for Xmas week), but maybe I should get the stars out of my eyes and think modestly, at least for a start. :) I'm sure many of you started with 150, so what do you think?
:)

[ncligs]

Jen Dawson,

The most important thing to realize, is to" buy now" while your kids are young. Even if you start with 150 pts now, you can always add on later. We started at 230 in 1999, and have added on 3 times (410). I think we are finally done...:D But try to buy what you can afford at first. Then as time goes by, you can always add-on through Disney or via re-sale.Remember the initial purchase is usually expensive, but that will eventually be paid off. The Dues are there for 40 years!!!!:rolleyes:

[Granny]

You've done the first basic part of the "how many points" question. You've determined likely times of year, lengths of time and type of room you would like to get. And you seem to have a plan to make it work. Keep in mind that your child will be in school soon and September may not be an option. You might want to look at the early June point rates for something you're more likely to be using?

150 points is not a bad total at all. You can always add on later. You are in a good position in that you won't need anything more than a studio for a while (unless you choose to go to a 1BR just for more room and the full kitchen and laundry).

Mostly, make sure this is something that you can afford. With your child being age four, you are in a perfect position to really enjoy some great vacations to WDW.

Good luck.

[EROS]

JEN, I ALWAYS feel that people are best served by starting with a low # of points rather than get caught up in "Point-Mania":) :) . You can always add on via DISNEY or resale; it's much, much easier to acquire points than to unload them.

Good Luck

[Granny]

Oh yeah, almost forgot....if you buy 150 now and another contract later, it is easier to sell the lower point contracts should that ever be necessary.

Even if you decided to get 300 points, you'd be better off with two 150 point contracts.

[Dean]

Don't buy until you're ready and certain DVC is for you. Sounds like you are ready and it's just a financial decision. Only you can decide if you can swing it but over the long haul, it may save you money. I'd consider buying 150 points since that will get up up to a 2 BR for 5 days excl weekends even Magic time. Also consider a resale where you might be able to save even a little more or pick up a few more points for the same amount.

[Jen D]

Keep in mind that your child will be in school soon and September may not be an option. You might want to look at the early June point rates for something you're more likely to be using?


Thanks, I did think about that-- in NY, we don't finish school until the end of June, but don't start until after Labor Day, so late August is an option, and it's not too bad, point-wise-- "Dream" season, right? Although I can't think of a worse time weather-wise. That's why I checked the President's Week options-- we get the whole week. Not crazy about the bad value of points, but I can forsee a time when this would be the best week for us to get away.

We're not really the type of family that will take exactly the same vacation the same week every year, so the flexibility of all this appeals to me, and the option to bank and borrow gives some breathing room. Anyway, it's a relief to not feel like I have to think of this in terms of 200+ points.

[dvcdudes]

Jen,
We bought 150 pts in Feb of 2000. Right now we go twice a year (Presidents Week & Late August). We stay in a Studio for 5 nights each.
When My kids get older, we will probably only go once a year and stay in a 1 bedroom.
I found that 150 points works well for us.
Good luck in whatever you decide.

[imgoingtodisney]

We just bought 170 pts in Nov. DH wanted to buy 200 but the 170 fit us better financially. (Little did we know DHs grandparents were to give us $5,000 which we used to pay off part of the principal.) We didnt want just the minimum and didnt think we could afford the 200 so we went with 170. We only have 1 child but DH said in the future DS would not want to be in the same room as us so it would be bette to be able to get the 1 bedroom sometimes.

[brittsmum1998]

Hi...we are in somewhat the same boat as you family wise...just me, DH and DD who will be four next month. We originally bought 210 pts with the idea of 7 to 10 days in a studio where as there are just 3 of us and we will not be adding to our family. We thought studio was enough WRONG!! Just please keep that in mind although top priority should be affordability. We did add on a bit to our original contract due to fact that DH said he could not stay in a studio anymore. We travel (drive usually) from Massachusetts once a year and will worry about the school issue when it arises. Teachers like those journals don't they? lol And people will tell you on these boards...once youstay in a one bdrm you can't go back. Buy what you can afford now but keep in mind you may want to add on at a later date. You'll find soon enough how addicting it is ;) ;) The one thing I can assure you is you will not be disappointed especially with young children. We have gotten so much use out of our DVC and we only bought in 2000 when our DD was two. I only WISH WE HAD BOUGHT SOONER :rolleyes: ;) :D Sound familiar all? :D :D :D

[POOH&PIGLET]

We thought we would start with 150 points. We later decided to buy as much as we could afford at the time and decided on 250 points. If we had more points, we would use them. Hopefully we will add on later. As others have stated, you can always add on later so don't overextend yourselves. Good luck.

[newt1912]

We bought the minimum of 150 points at VWL in Jan. As soon as the Fed Ex paperwork arrived, I began to rethink the number of points. We knew that 150 would fit our immediate needs of a studio but I knew in my heart that I wanted to stay in a 1BR with DVC. I wanted to go with 250 but compromised at 200 points, knowing we could always add on in the future if our finances permit. Since we have always stayed in the deluxe resorts, my thinking with buying into DVC was that staying in a studio was not all that much more luxurious to me than staying in a deluxe with a refrigerator. I wanted the 1BR for the convenience of the washer/dryer (less clothes to pack) and the kitchen (even though we won't be cooking full meals). Everyone has different reasons for buying into the DVC. I am at the point in my trips where my surroundings are just as important to me during my stay as going to the parks. I no longer just use my room to sleep in so the 1BR was important to me.

[QueenAnne]

150 pts works out perfect for us right now. I would love to have more points but really wouldn't have a need for them right now! There are 3 of us: me, DH and DD who is 3. We only want to vacation once a year for about 5 days in a 1 bdrm or 2 bdrm! 150 is perfect for us! We are even going to try and go to DL next April and share points with DS and DBIL to get a GV in HH for June! If I bought more points now, I wouldn't know what to do with them!!

:D :D :D :D

[buck4568]

Why not buy a resale at BWV first. THey have some good deals available through THe Timeshare Store and A TImeshare Broker. YOu can probably save $10.00 or so per pt. on a resale @ $63.00 or so verses what you will pay direct through DVC for the BC. Both resorts are located close to each other and you could get more points through the resale to use than buying direct.

Location, location, location! Thats what sells and the BC and the BWV are really the same location. We go to the BC pool hopping and always to eat at Beaches & Cream. We just added 100 pts. through a resale at BWV within a month of our original use year there and paid $60.00 per pt. In a few years there will be resale points available at BC and you can buy there as an add-on.

Just a thought!

:) :) :) :smooth:

[Gearjammin101]

These are some of the concerns that I face. My DH and I have no children as of yet. I'm 27 and he is 23. I am trying to convince him that this is the way to go and I find myself at the boards everyday trying to make sense of it all. I sent away for the info pack a week ago and I'm just waiting to get the pack. My husband only sees the big price tag and usually says something like, "...unless you've come into some money I don't know about..." We are by no means rich but we work hard all year long and do like to have at least 7 days a year just to relax and forget about the world outside. That's why I love Disney!!!
I don't know what accomodations would be best. We really liked WL when we stayed in Dec. 2000. We don't like big crowds and we liked the atmosphere at the Lodge. And I think somewhere in the back of my mind I'm close to MK. I don't know why that should matter but MK really "feels" like Disney to me. We always go there first to get us in a Mickey state of mind.
I'm trying to decide if we should go resale or if we should go to Beach Club through Disney because from what I'm gathering it seems like that's the only place "open" now unless VWL are still available.
Sorry if this just goes on and on. I feel kind of silly trying to convey what I mean to all of you veterans :confused:
April

[Richyams]

If you are thinking about a resale, look at OKW. The rooms are way bigger, dues are lower and the points are less per night.

Besides it being the only "real" DVC resort......

[EROS]

Normally I'd urge you to pay close attention to RICH's thoughts; after all, he is A MAN AND A LEGEND!!! .

However, I personally would urge you to be cautious about purchasing at OKW. My highly informed sources tell me that there have been TWO ALIEN ABDUCTIONS at OKW over the years. Of course, DISNEY has done its best to quash such rumors;) ;) .

GOOD LUCK,

[doubletrouble_vb]

Right now I would definitely buy resale. I have to disagree with Rich about buying OKW specifically. It seems easiest to get into OKW on a 7 month window than any other on site location...so why buy there unless its the best available contract? If you want more points resale seems the best way to get them.

[Dean]

It's true that it will be easiest to get into OKW at the 7 month window. The reasons are multiple and include that it's older with owners who have owned longer, more out of the way and a more sedate pool. It will be the cheapest on averge for a resale. Overall, I'd buy where I wanted to stay most of the time. If I didn't care, I'd buy OKW becaue it's cheaper usually, more resales , less points and far lower dues.

[buck4568]

Try this on your husband!

Sit down and figure what it cost you to stay at WL in 2000. If that trip was not 7 days, add any extra days to that figure. Now, take that total cost and multiply it by 40. That total does not even take into consideration the inflation the economy feels each year so the total should actually be more if you add 2% to each year.

If you buy 150 points now you are actually paying (or should be Paying) less because your not paying the inflation for the next 40 years on each of your vacations. And, you can stay anywhere on site using your points now matter what your home resort is. It may change your booking window from 11 months out to 7 months but you can usually get the ressies you want no matter what even at 7 months.

Resales are nice! You can buy 200 pts. for less money if you are patient or you can go direct through DVC. Yo u get the same perks either way.


:) :) :) :smooth:

[tss2]

I don't know if anyone has mentioned this yet, but where else would you like to vacation?

If you can trade points and can go where you want, extra points may be handy.

My family likes to go other places where I can't use my points....we have spent several family vacations in Phoenix where there aren't any trades that look desirable to us right now with a 6 and 8 year old. (although there is a dude ranch in Tucson that sounds like fun down the road)

Just think about what other vacations your family might like to go on and if you can use your DVC points for them.........hope this helps!

P.S. We have 150 points and are perfectly happy with it right now. We plan our vacations according to days my kids days off. We still pull them out of school, but for 3 1/2 days instead of 5 for a weeks vacation.

[Jen D]

Try this on your husband! Sit down and figure what it cost you to stay at WL in 2000. If that trip was not 7 days, add any extra days to that figure. Now, take that total cost and multiply it by 40. That total does not even take into consideration the inflation the economy feels each year so the total should actually be more if you add 2% to each year.

Well, I think the sticking point for *my* husband-- and probably for me too-- is this: sure it's a great idea if you know you want to go to Disney World every year for 40 years-- but are we sure that's what we want? We love it, love the resorts, but isn't there a chance that some day we'll be-- danger, heresy coming-- kind of OVER IT?

My hasty answer is-- go to Vero, go to HH, take time off from WDW for a while if we feel bored with it. Or use the points elsewhere. Of course, you folks don't seem to be bored yet!

As for resort location-- I appreciate all advice, and I hope to stay at all the resorts eventually if I buy in, but I am probably not looking at OKW. I like the BC/BW locations, especially since we don't really like renting cars. Besides, I see us doing studios occasionally, and I don't like the two-queen bed layout; I prefer the pullout. VWL seems very pretty, but I haven't seen any resales yet.

I love all the advice I get here! :D

[buck4568]

COLOR=orange]Quote[/COLOR] Well, I think the sticking point for *my* husband-- and probably for me too-- is this: sure it's a great idea if you know you want to go to Disney World every year for 40 years


Have you looked at the DVC website? It gives you all the info on resorts around the world that you can use your points on. As for available resale points at DVC resorts check out these sites.I have also included the DVC link.


http://www.atimeshare.com

http://www.timesharesale.com

http://dvc.disney.go.com/disneyvacationclub/home

[firemankenpfd]

My best advice would be to buy what you can afford now. And, don't forget about the yearly fees. My DW and I purchased a resale in October 2001 at the BWV for 150 pts. It felt good at the time but we are going to do a 100 point add-on in April at the BCV when we take our first time home to BWV.

We plan on alternating each year between the BWV and the BCV for a while. Our goal is to stay in a 1BR each time for one long trip each year.

It is very hard not to get caught up in the excitement of buying more and more points by reading about everyone else buying add-on after add-on.

Just buy what you can afford now and have fun with what you have.

[Jen D]

Everyone's advice has been great. We still haven't decided (if I ever get my information packet from Disney I can sit down with dh and talk with him about it properly-- I want documentation! ) but I think if we do buy, 150 points is fine. I actually sat down with pencil, paper and adding machine today and imagined some vacations for the next 3-4 years with a 150 point allocation, and boy, I don't think I'd be lacking. There is such an endless stream of possibilities and accomodations, even with the minimum point allocation. Banking and borrowing helps a lot, and even if we borrowed a lot one year to get a bigger accomodation and bring family-- like a 2 bedroom or a even an OKW GV-- there is still enough left the next year to do a short trip for the three of us in a studio. In any case, I think we could manage a trip every calendar year, if not every 12 months. I think the existential problem of "how can I go back to a studio after a one-bedroom" sounds like the kind of worries and problems I'd like to have! I'm sure I can manage it!

You know, I thought I was just fantasizing about DVC to get myself through the winter blahs, but the more I look at it, the more the damn thing starts to make sense. And given that our little family is not very good at planning time away for the three of us that is not work-related-- it would be great to have a situation that made it easy-- even mandatory!-- for us to do just that.

[jmminarik]

Originally posted by Jen Dawson
I actually sat down with pencil, paper and adding machine today and imagined some vacations for the next 3-4 years with a 150 point allocation, and boy, I don't think I'd be lacking. There is such an endless stream of possibilities and accomodations, even with the minimum point allocation. Banking and borrowing helps a lot...And given that our little family is not very good at planning time away for the three of us that is not work-related-- it would be great to have a situation that made it easy-- even mandatory!-- for us to do just that.

Edited for brevity.
I set up a spreadsheet to do my math, but we do the same thing....plan out what, when and where. So far, we've taken a week at Vero over Christmas, BW NY's weekend, gave my best friends a 1BR Honeymoon at BW, and plan to take (assuming we get the rooms 7 months out) my inlaws to OKW in December. So owning DVC for us isn't just about us, but being able to share the magic with our friends, our nieces and nephews and the in-laws (though not too much for the in-laws... :)

One of the biggest things for us buying into DVC was that it would provide a destination and incentive for us to take planned vacations...if I had to shell out a a few grand every year to go to someplace of the quality of Disney, we'd probably spend alot of days off at home instead of out doing something.

We wound up buying 225 at VB, then adding 50pts on at VWL before the last price hike. I'm feeling the 'points mania' myself, but that's mainly because we're doing lots of scenarios for the upcoming 'in-law trip' and all roads are leading to OKW so far.

The fact that the bulk of our points is at VB isn't a problem since we're flexible in our time for vacations. In fact, the only sticking point we'll have is taking the In-Laws in December....so everybody cancel your OKW ressies and go to BCV!!! :):) :D

Hope this helps,
Joe

[DisneyPhD]

Hello everyone. We are new both here at Dis board and DVC. We just bought 170 points at VWL and hope that it is enough for us. Every year for the past 7 years we have ended up at Disney, but this is really the first time we could aford DVC, in a way I wish we had took the leap sooner.

We have one 11 month old daughter and are looking foward to using the one bed room options. The way we figured it out, we could do a sudio one year and 1 BR the next. Or we could stay for 6 nights instead of 7 and miss one weekend night. I must say I really don't like how the points more then double on Fri and sat nights. :confused:

When we first started looking into DVC I was really disapointed with how limited your options with 150 points was, now I am starting to see, there are ways around it.

The only things I am disapointed about is that our last trip was Dec 2001, and now that we joined DVC after coming home, our next trip isn't until March 2003. Can I make it that long?

[Jen D]

Originally posted by jmminarik
One of the biggest things for us buying into DVC was that it would provide a destination and incentive for us to take planned vacations...if I had to shell out a a few grand every year to go to someplace of the quality of Disney, we'd probably spend alot of days off at home instead of out doing something.



Totally! Part of the reason I am interested is the idea of GUARANTEEING ourselves a vacation-- we have a tendency to not make time for ourselves....

[prplcrzy]

Jen,

Others have given you some great advice, but I will tell you from personal experience that 150 points will not be enough for you. If that is all you can afford then go for it, but if you think you can afford more, I would try to acquire more points. We have added on twice and started with 200 thinking that would be enough, and now we have 600. Not that I am advocating you buy 600 points, but I think 200-250 points is a great place to start. You want to enjoy this every year, not stress about how many points you need to borrow because you needed to go at a different time of year than you anticipated.

You will love the flexibility and the places to stay, and you will want more points. These are two facts that I really don't think anyone can dispute.

Good luck!

[JALaP]

We were thinking that 150 is what we could afford now, too, and that would give us a week in a studio at BCV each year. Then, we thought, if we want to take a second trip, we could pay cash for a regular hotel room if AP or other discounts make the $ low enough. (Or, I guess, rent DVC points). Are we totally defeating the financial savings aspect of DVC or do you all think this could make sense?

[JALaP]

We were thinking that 150 is what we could afford now, too, and that would give us a week in a studio at BCV each year. Then, we thought, if we want to take a second trip, we could pay cash for a regular hotel room if AP or other discounts make the $ low enough. (Or, I guess, rent DVC points). Are we totally defeating the financial savings aspect of DVC or do you all think this could make sense?

[ZerasPride]

My thinking is similar to yours. We bought 170 points which will be more than enough when DH and I are empty nesters in a few years to get a 1 bedroom at Hilton Head for a week (or more) in the two low seasons. If we want a second trip (Disney or another destination) in less than a year's time then we would pay cash for those visits. Ideally, while we are paying off our DVC mortgage, it doesn't make sense to me to pay for vacation accommodations and the mortgage at the same time, so at least for the next few years our destinations will be either Disney, the cruise, Vero or our home resort - Hilton Head.

Lisa

[dvcdudes]

JALaP,

We have 150 points and go twice a year. You could stay the week each time but use the cash for rooms on the weekend, using points for weekdays only. You would only be paying cash for 4 nights a year (figuring on 2/7 night trips) instead of 7. 10 nights would be with points @ about 12-19 points a night. You of course would not be able to go each time during premier season but if you did one year you could offset it by going choice or adventure the next. We usually only do 6 nights spending one in a "regular" cash hotel.
Some people seem to have more discretionary income than others and can afford 300-400-800 points. I can't but my little 150 points are helping us to be where we want to be (WDW) two weeks a year for the next 40 years. It don't get much better than that!:D

[Paul in CT]

150 Points definitely worked well for us to start. We just added on later (50 pts.) when we felt we needed more. The biggest benefit is the ease in selling smaller point contracts if you decide you want to.