If you knew then what you know now?

[crisi]

If your travel dates are tied to a school calendar and you are only planning to stay at WDW during peak travel times (anytime the kids are out of school), you may have some difficulty finding availability within a 3 month window.

Some other strange times are hard - early December and October book pretty solid pretty early. In fact, summer is usually better than either of those two times. Events you don't normally think of if you aren't a participant can cause strange blips - the marathon is a good example - people who go to Disney every year for the marathon sometimes choose to own DVC for that trip - and can create tight availability in January - a strange time of year and if you aren't a runner you don't even think about that being a draw. Jersey Week - if you aren't from Jersey it doesn't occur to you that a lot of DVC members go that year every week. It doesn't even occur to folks in the Midwest that people in New Jersey have that week off school.

Also, it depends on what you are willing to accept in terms of availability. Sometimes there is a studio on Monday at BCVs, a one bedroom Tuesday and Wednesday over at SSR, and the rest of the week is available in a OKW one bedroom - if you are willing to move mid trip there will be more availability short notice than if you want to stay in one room.

 

[JimMIA]

We're seriously thinking of buying into DVC and I have a couple questions that haven't really been answered. I've read through this topic and several others on this message board and others.

1 - From what I've read, it seems to be very difficult to use points at places that are not Disney. Is it more a matter of the points seeming to be worth less outside of Disney, or is it truly difficult to get reservations at the other places listed as part of the World Passport collection?

Well, that is kinda hard to say right now, because some options just changed from II to RCI. It probably remains to be seen whether that is a long-term plus or minus. Certainly the value is usually better at onsite DVC resorts, but I think knowledgeable exchangers can probably do fine. The remark I hear a lot is that there are other timeshares that cost less to purchase that exchange as well as, or better than, DVC. We bought DVC strictly to stay onsite in DVC resorts.

As some others have said, staying onsite may be an overrated value in our particular case. I think it's more important for people who fly in than for those of us who just have a short drive to WDW. We now find that we eat almost all of our meals offsite, so the onsite advantage is not really as big a deal as before.

Obviously, the onsite advantage varies a good bit depending on where you stay and which parks you frequent most. The Epcot resorts are very convenient to Epcot and DHS. VWL and BLT are very confenient to MK. We spend most of our time at MK and Epcot, but we also find driving to the parks only takes a few minutes and the convenience of easy return to our resort outweighs any time spent driving, parking, etc.

2 - If you're not particularly fussy about staying at a particular DVC resort and you're able to be a bit flexible with your dates, is is possible to book a vacation within a 3 month window? For instance, if in June you decide you'd like to visit in Sept/Oct for 5 nights, or in Nov you try to book a Jan/Feb vacation, is that possible? Or are you pretty much locked out of anything unless you book 7-11 months in advance?

We rarely book at 11 months, and probably only would do so if we were going at a peak time. We don't normally do that, and we often book inside 7 months even at our home resorts. Our normal visitation months are May or early November, and we have not had a problem. My daughters routinely book inside 3 months and have always been successful because they are flexible.

Certainly if you are planning a visit any time between Thanksgiving and New Years, you need to book very early. If you want a specific type of unit which is short demand (a GV, or a particular view), you'll have to book right at 11 months. Also, the Epcot resorts are very difficult to get during F&W Festival, and as Crisi mentioned, there are some quirky periods where you'll have more difficulty than you'd expect.

 

[dizneed]

THANKS for all the comments, as I may have mentioned either here or in another topic, I'm pretty sure we'll buy something in DVC, the bigger question is how many points and where (once I realized I could go thru a resale market and not have to purchase the minimum 160 @ BLT)

it's good to know that the exchange/trade route is not as easy or beneficial as I'd thought from the DVC presentation, so I won't purchase additional points on the assumption that I can always use them on a visit elsewhere

So now I just think I need to learn more about the relative benefits of BWV vs. BCV and Use Year and those things, I know there's a few threads on those topics so I've got some reading to do!

 

[Adams Mom]

I'd have given more thought to my use year, kids are growing up and schedules are getting harder to match.

I'd also have bought earlier, and more points. The price of points goes up every year, sometimes more often.

 

[gtrain219]

1. I would have split my contracts up. Just in case I want to sell later.

2. I would have looked at other properties. Now that I know the other properties better there are a few I might like to buy.

3. I would have considered resales. You don't get incentives but you can find cheaper prices.

 

[JimC]

1. Purchase contracts in 100 and 50 point amounts. Easier to sell and more flexibility to adjust ownership levels as your needs change.

2. Buy based on what is most important to you -- location, cost, dues, theme, expiration, whatever. Ownership location is really important if you want to buy from Disney or if you need home resort booking advantage. Otherwise, best long term value is probably the guiding principle.

3. Use year is important relative to canceling vacations and having alternatives such as rescheduling and banking to save the points. It is a good strategy; however, vacation patterns change over time. Especially true as children age, you become empty-nesters, grandkids arrive, and the like.

 

[ILuvMulan]

Ditto!!!! We are very new (haven't even made our first trip yet) but I wish I had known that when it comes to selling and bequeathing it is all or none. We have three kids so we would have split contracts so we could leave points to each child

 

[ILIKEWDW]

I would wanted to buy earlier....... .............

wait a second!, No I would not, because of BLT..............

we love MK and BLT is the best resort for us, so even when it would be good to be members years ago and save all the money of our past vacations, maybe we would not enjoyed it at all as we always have stayed at MK resorts.

So, I am Ok and so happy, thanks for BLT!!!

 

[Sandisw]

I would wanted to buy earlier....... .............

wait a second!, No I would not, because of BLT..............

we love MK and BLT is the best resort for us, so even when it would be good to be members years ago and save all the money of our past vacations, maybe we would not enjoyed it at all as we always have stayed at MK resorts.

So, I am Ok and so happy, thanks for BLT!!!

Exactly where I am now. Would have loved to buy in earlier but always stayed at the Contemporary and knew I would be happy in no other place. BLT was the best magic I could have asked for!!!

But, to answer OP question, I would have paid more attention to UY for my resale contract. Got an October UY when we vacation in summer. Didn't think it would make a difference but realized when I was adding on to BLT that I didn't want those points to be tied to that UY. Luckily, I was able to get them to sell me my BLT points with a June UY. I have 2 UY's now but that will be only for a while.

My plan is to sell my VWL contract (it is small) in a few years, after I get a few vacations out of it, and add on more points at BLT with a June UY. Hopefully, I won't take a huge loss.

 

[rigsby25]

That is so true- I think we have become "Disney People" as well. I want to try other places, but since we already have DVC, why pay for other vacations. I did book a trip to VB this year and try not to go to the themeparks. But the Star Wars week is the week I'm gonna be at VB and I'm so tempted to renew my AP so I can be there. Was gonna wait till my BLT october trip, but.....the
Oh no, we've become Mouses....

DON'T DO IT!! We had the same idea. Go for a change of pace. And we fell in love. Its almost like "the island". There is nothing to do and no reason to leave. We go to Publix and get lunch meat and stuff for snacking, etc. But between the ocean and the pool, and just sitting on your balcony relaxing and looking out into the ocean - its heaven. A lot less expensive than disney too! The ocean is the main attraction and its free.

 

[xmas16]

Wow.....it's been a few years. I never got the DVC but wondered if people's opinions have stayed the same or changed.

 

[bwvBound]

Wow.....it's been a few years. I never got the DVC but wondered if people's opinions have stayed the same or changed.

Welcome back, OP!

I hadn't responded earlier (2009) in this thread but have responded to several others of similar question. My opinions haven't changed ... I'd still do things the same way I had done them if the environment was unchanged:

* Small contracts vs one large contract
* Know/Understand UY; plan/purchase accordingly

The biggest variable for me now vs then (2004 purchase) are the new resorts in CA and HI. It is possible that I would have selected one of these as my home instead of WDW ... but that wasn't an option for me then.

 

[disbound09]

Break the points into smaller contracts is really the best advice. In short term cost more, closing cost etc. But in the big picture amounts to little. Consider how many children you have or want to help decide how many contracts if you plan to pass them on. We went big 320 at one resort first time and now the 11 month is only available there. Could have doubled or tripled our 11 month options.

 

[lovin'fl]

We bought 200 OKW points via resale in 2006 and then 75 HH points via resale in 2011 and are adding on 100 AKV points via resale right now (in ROFR). DH chose OKW because it was the cheapest WDW resort in 2006...SSR was still being sold new by Disney and were about $90pp (after incentives) and climbing. We paid something like $73 pp. DH prefers more points for our money over buying at the home resort we like (we have since realized we like BWV and BCV...have not tried AKV or BLT yet). When we added on the 75 HH points (to be able to alternate WDW trips with beach trips to save on park passes and airfare) we planned to add onto the HH points down the line. In my mind, I wanted 300 points since we have 3 kids to give them to when they have their own families (and 300 would be divided nicely). We now will have 375. And I wish we had 3 small contracts...so if it were all up to me I'd have 100 points at BWV, 100 at HH and 100 at AKV. If we sold our 200 OKW and bought 100 BWV and 25 HH...it would cost us money (or be break even) and we'd have 75 less points, so I guess we'll stick with what we have (maybe we'll still add onto our HH points). I'd also try to get same UY...we have June with the OKW and Aug with the HH and AKV. It works fine, but just for ease of making a resie and not having it linked, same UY would be nice.

 

[sweetdana]

I didn't add then.

But I am very happy with my 160 ssr resale..

No regrets. 1 small contract, not to many not to few. I randomally picked a good UY for us. but had I have known, I would have done more research on this.. when I bought I really didn't understand it.


I currently transfer in annually points of other members, but I switch how many and I don't think I will for 2013, so having that flexibility is the reason I haven't bought more yet. If I did buy more points.. I would buy a different resort, (to have 2) and have a second UY. to have a 2nd transfer once a yr, and for Holiday Spring break travel.