Can I get some opinions?

[dizfan]

We've been looking at buying DVC for the last 4 years or so. I want to go for it, but DW keeps getting cold feet at the last minute. While we talk about vacationing elsewhere, when it comes down to it, we keep going back to Disney typically every 1-2 years.

I thought I had DW convinced on BLT, but now she says it's not Disney enough and will be a glorified Marriott. Oh well.

We know it will be BCV or BWV resale or AKV new purchase.

We'll watching the online sales presentation next week.
1) If the urge hits us, should we be ready with a referral to get any incentives?
2) If the current incentives end June 15th, can we call a guide on the 14th and still get them?
3) Any tips for convincing DW to agree on the purchase?
4) Did I read correctly that Disney Chase is offering a AP if you use the card for the down payment?
5) Are there any other incentives we should keep in mind while watching the presentation?

Thanks for reading my post. Have a great day!
Dan

 

[DVC&CM]

1) If the urge hits us, should we be ready with a referral to get any incentives? I would happily be a referral2) If the current incentives end June 15th, can we call a guide on the 14th and still get them? I believe you can
3) Any tips for convincing DW to agree on the purchase? Just talk it out. Figure out when you want to go, where you want to go and how many points it'll take, it's easier to see the cost and valus that way.4) Did I read correctly that Disney Chase is offering a AP if you use the card for the down payment? I believe that is the case. Lot's of great incentives.5) Are there any other incentives we should keep in mind while watching the presentation? Just ask, the guides will tell you everything.

It's exciting, so have fun.

 

[Crystal_27]

We've been looking at buying DVC for the last 4 years or so. I want to go for it, but DW keeps getting cold feet at the last minute. While we talk about vacationing elsewhere, when it comes down to it, we keep going back to Disney typically every 1-2 years.

I thought I had DW convinced on BLT, but now she says it's not Disney enough and will be a glorified Marriott. Oh well.

We know it will be BCV or BWV resale or AKV new purchase.

We'll watching the online sales presentation next week.
1) If the urge hits us, should we be ready with a referral to get any incentives?
2) If the current incentives end June 15th, can we call a guide on the 14th and still get them?
3) Any tips for convincing DW to agree on the purchase?
4) Did I read correctly that Disney Chase is offering a AP if you use the card for the down payment?
5) Are there any other incentives we should keep in mind while watching the presentation?

Thanks for reading my post. Have a great day!
Dan

Dan, first of all, congratulations on your potential DVC purchase. In response to your questions, note the following:

1. The webcast seems to be a different beast (even the Guides really don't know what's going on) so, yes, you should have a member referral handy. That said, you can always go back and add a member referral to your contract after the fact in order to receive the member referral discounts (although your "referred member" will likely not at that point be eligible for the gift card gift, so if you have someone expecting that extra money, have their name with you before you make your first phone call). If you are using a friend and they are promising you half of the reward, it's a good idea to have their name ready in case the issue comes up.

2. You can actually make changes to your contract any time up until it closes. That means you can change your incentives, use year, resort, number of points, etc. Your contract typically takes about a month to close (or, closing will be triggered upon the final payment of your down payment). So, yes, if you opt for a particular contract even today, you will have up until your contract closes to make any changes.

3. Massages, roses, candlelight dinner, shopping outings, promises of magical vacations for years to come...? Am I hitting on anything she likes?
Seriously, though, DVC is a huge financial commitment, both from the initial investment to the annual maintenance fees to the costs associated with dining, park tickets, etc. I would say that both of you should be 100% decided that DVC is right for your family before commiting to buy.

4. The incentive for the Disney Chase APs is an "either/or" thing. In order to take advantage of that incentive, you would have to give up another. Most people will see a higher savings by taking the incentive for discounted points.

5. Yes!!!! Print out the current incentives from DVCnews.com and do the calculations of what your looking at spending all the possible ways you can think of. DVC Guides have a lot of fancy/schmancy math tactics that they will throw at you during their presentations. During the webcast, they are going to be selling their little hearts out. Make *sure* that you know what your options are so you can resist any lesser sales pitches that the Guides are going to make sound like the best deal ever.

Good luck!!!

ETA: If you decide on AKV, make sure that you inquire about getting a Use Year with 2008 points attached to it. That way, you will have double the points to use right away and you'll be ahead of the points curve right off the bat. YAY!

 

[arthur06]

You need to do what I did! (many others have done it as well). I really wanted a Epcot Resort DVC, so that meant BCV or BWV. I identified what use years were good, and which were not. I then scoured the TSS, among others, for a small resale contract. I bought 30 BWV points.

One of DW's biggest turnoffs was that she didn't want to pay $200-$400 per month for, what she called, a timeshare. So, I saved money, and bought the resale. When I could add on a smaller amount of points at a price that she deemed fair, we went for it.

Find out why your wife is reluctant. If it is money, that is a good way to go (resale). We have not taken our first DVC trip yet, but we will in a 1br. With DS8, DS2, DS8mo., she will never go back to a studio. Hopefully another case of addonitis gets her!

 

[quirty30]

In answer to question #4, I believe the Chase AP offer ended on May 31st.

 

[christa112]

If you decide to purchase new, definately ask about the 2008 points. That is a great deal. I know of a few people on the boards that lucked out and got it.

As for the AP's you cannot collect on both AP's and additional $ off incentive together (I tried with no luck). As long as you get the ball rolling you will qualify for the current incentives or the new incentive rolling out on the 15th if it is better than the current.

As for convincing your wife well not sure how much I can be of help because I was the one who wanted the DVC to begin with.

Good luck on your decision

 

[Sandisw]

Many have already answered your questions, but the only thing I would add is be sure you think about how important your home resort is and buy at one that would make you happy.

If you can see yourself happy at many, then go for one of those. Although booking at 7 months is possible, and many people have great luck, there are times when you won't be able to get anything but your home resort.

I just added on 50 more BLT points yesterday, knowing about the webcast and the possibility of a better deal. My guide knows that if the deals are better, he will just re-do the contracts for me.

So, if something that is going on now interests you, contact your guide (if you have one--if not, you can find names on this board or just call and they will assign you one) and ask to start the process. If you change your mind, you can cancel things out.

But, if one of the older resorts interests you, you should really look at the resale situation before deciding. There are some good deals right now at some of the resorts you mentioned.

Good luck!

 

[dizfan]

Thanks for all the great advice. If there are any more tips, keep it coming.

If I can't convince DW next week, I'm sure we'll commit before our next trip to WDW. I've already started tucking away money for DVC and I will be getting a nice bonus from work (20 years) later this month.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Dan

 

[quirty30]

Have you seen the BLT models at Doorway to Dreams at Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg? I see you are just south of Madison and would highly recommend a road trip if you haven't seen them. Might help convince DW.

 

[dizfan]

Have you seen the BLT models at Doorway to Dreams at Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg? I see you are just south of Madison and would highly recommend a road trip if you haven't seen them. Might help convince DW.

Thanks for posting this. We are supposed to work on outdoor projects all weekend, but fortunately it's supposed to rain all weekend. Perfect excuse for a road trip.

 

[quirty30]

Thanks for posting this. We are supposed to work on outdoor projects all weekend, but fortunately it's supposed to rain all weekend. Perfect excuse for a road trip.

Might see you there - we're stopping by tomorrow for a Disney fix : )

 

[dizfan]

Thank to everyone for the great info.

We watched last night's web cast and I DW agrees we are a Disney family. We were engaged there, have taken family trips there, have taken get away trips there, have met friends there.

After hearing about the prices from 1971 Contemporary to today, her jaw dropped.

After the presentation, we decided to purchase on June 19 (our 5 year wedding avnniversary). This is the closest I've ever seen her to agreeing on DVC. I'm guessing it's a 10% chance she'll change her mind.

This morning, I convinced her that we should head to Woodfield mall this weekend to see the Doorway to Dreams model. Hoping to keep the excitement going.

Before last night, she was any place but BLT and SSR. After talking with our guide Ron, she thinks BLT is the place for us. Knowing our parents are older and would likely need a scooter, the ability to ride the monorail would be a huge bonus for us.

Also, a huge thank you to Dean who made DW's 50th b-day a very magical day at the MK last month. Without that, I doubt if we would be talking about DVC.

8 more days until our anniversary, hoping to keep the magic alive.

Dan

 

[ToddyLu]

Congratulations we bought new points at AKV this week. I have wanted to be a DVCer for several years and now my DH is really excited....I wish the same for you both.

 

[sanbornangel]

Lots of pixie dust to keep the magic going. DH and I bought DVC after our 3rd year of "trying to go elsewhere and always ending up at Disney". We love it and just added 140 point resale. We are so excited.

 

[extremesoccermom]

We were in the same position. On our first family trip (DH did not want to go to Disney but I insisted that it was time to take our then 4 yo). Our son got sick (flu) so while I spent the day in the room with the kiddo DH went on a tour of the DVC which was just starting out. He was ready to buy and I put the brakes on . There was no way I would finance for the next 10 years for OKW.
But as the resorts started going and we were going to disney every 4 years, then every 2, now yearly and sometimes 3-4 times in one year, I was finally ready to concede. I started to look around because I still did not want to finance this big purchase. I found out about resales and we got our first 50 point SSR DVC through resale paying cash. Then we put 25 points at AKL on the Disney Card which we paid off in the 6 months 0% financing. We thought that would be it for a while, but since we bought AP last OCT and treated ourselves and my parents to a 2 bedroom OKW visit and DS19 has agreed to a WDW vacation (he hasn't been in the last 4-5 years) I used and rented points for an AKV studio for a week.
We have budgeted in another DVC purchase and with the cruise incentive we decided we need 100 more points at BLT. We look forward to visiting GCV within the next couple of years and DVC Hawaii for our 25th anniversary (we honeymooned there a while ago ).

 

[quirty30]

Thank to everyone for the great info.

We watched last night's web cast and I DW agrees we are a Disney family. We were engaged there, have taken family trips there, have taken get away trips there, have met friends there.

After hearing about the prices from 1971 Contemporary to today, her jaw dropped.

After the presentation, we decided to purchase on June 19 (our 5 year wedding avnniversary). This is the closest I've ever seen her to agreeing on DVC. I'm guessing it's a 10% chance she'll change her mind.

This morning, I convinced her that we should head to Woodfield mall this weekend to see the Doorway to Dreams model. Hoping to keep the excitement going.

Before last night, she was any place but BLT and SSR. After talking with our guide Ron, she thinks BLT is the place for us. Knowing our parents are older and would likely need a scooter, the ability to ride the monorail would be a huge bonus for us.

Also, a huge thank you to Dean who made DW's 50th b-day a very magical day at the MK last month. Without that, I doubt if we would be talking about DVC.

8 more days until our anniversary, hoping to keep the magic alive.

Dan

So, so happy for you. Keeping my fingers crossed that DW doesn't reconsider. I hope she likes the models. I was astounded at how spacious and nicely appointed they were.

 

[dizfan]

So, so happy for you. Keeping my fingers crossed that DW doesn't reconsider. I hope she likes the models. I was astounded at how spacious and nicely appointed they were.

On Friday, DW talked to one of her co-workers who goes to WDW every year. When she mentioned where BLT was, I her reaction convinced DW to buy BLT.

The models were great. The MK view and BLT will definitely rival our favorite view so far (AKL Savannah View). Being able to walk to MK will be priceless.

Today, we mentioned it to my mom and brother. Initially, my brother was saying we were crazy. When we showed him some pictures and where it's located, he was speechless.

Thanks quirty for mentioning Doorway to Dreams. We spent the couple hours drving time talking about DVC and even began talking about upcoming trips we would want to take and how to use the points for them.

I would say that we're 98% likely to be buying. I think all that's left for us to decide is whether to book the current referral deal (3-day cruise) or going for the webcast deal.

 

[wildernessDad]

Can you get some opinions?? CAN YOU GET SOME OPINIONS?? Why, step right up, because you can DEFINITELY get opinions here!

 

[JoRo]

There are posts out here that say the 7 day cruise is the better option over the webcast. We have had our contracts for about a week but told our guide we werent going to send back until we saw the webcast and also to see what the new 6/15 incentives are going to be.

For us with VGC, we decided the cruise is the best deal over the webcast because we probably wouldnt spend the cash to go on the cruise from Florida. It would be hard to keep me the theme parks being in Florida and just go on the cruise unless is were a "free" deal HAHAHA.

Good luck

 

[Disneymom2266]

I personally, wouldnt spend the money for the points at BLT. It does seem to me a bit too conventiony. If I were buying in to DVC now, I would look to the resale. It would be like half the price, and you can still stay at BLT to try it out. I dont care for the contemporary or the BLT affilitation. It seems cold to me. Check the resale and get a couple of smaller contracts at a couple different places.