Please help a neebie understand a few things...

[daraweb]

A little background
We just returned from our 5th trip to WDW in the past 7 years and every time we come home and research DVC. This time was a little different. We took the tour at Saratoga and are REALLY thinking of following through.

The main reason we are interested (other than loving WDW) is that our DD9 has celiac disease which means she can not eat anything with gluten (wheat, rye, malt, barley, and oats) or that has touched gluten. This was our first trip to WDW since she was diagnosed and it was AMAZING!!!! A total vacation for me since I didn't have to carry all of her food with us. It was an indescribable experience for her-being able to go into any restaurant and order whatever she wanted.

The idea of having 1 vacation a year where our food issues are taken care of sounds like heaven! We will most likely be using our points for a WDW vacation every year for the near future (probably 10 years or so) and then I am not sure how we will use it... in 10 years the kids will be 19 and 16. Hoping when they get older we can bring friends/cousins.

Now onto the questions:

1. Other than not being able to use our points at the restricted places (cruises, adventure, signature, etc) is there anything else I need to know about disadvantages to buying resale instead of direct from Disney?

2. How does the RCI exchange actually work. It seems you put your DVC points into RCI and request a location and then wait for a match? Do you get to pick specific dates?

3. Is there any difference in the RCI process if you are resale versus direct from Disney?

4. I am a bit confused on the UY cancellation relationship. I have a sense that it is important but I'm not really sure why.

Thank you SO much (in advance for helping!)

 

[disneynutz]

It's not that I don't want to help you but your questions are very common and discussed at length here in the DVC section on the DIS. Do yourself a favor and take some time to read through the posts they are an excellent source of information.

Bill

 

[daraweb]

I agree these boards are an excellent source of information and I have learned a lot about people's feelings and opinions on many of the topics I asked questions about. I have been reading the boards for about a week and have done many searches. I have not found some of the facts I am looking for...personal stories and experiences yes.

I have only found 1 thread that dealt with the resale restrictions. It had a very informative quote from Disney however, I have not seen any other restrictions mentioned. Just thought there might be some restriction that I wouldn't know to search on.

I understand that you don't want to spend time answering things that have been answered. I have found many threads where these topics are discussed and refered to but I am still looking for the direct answer to my questions. For example: I read a few anecdotes of RCI exchanges but they didn't mention if they got to give a certain week. Just an example...

If, I have missed this info I am sorry. Also, did not find this info in the sticky section (although I did find a UY thread that has me a little closer to understanding the cancellation issue)

If there are threads that I am missing, would you mind linking? Thank you!

 

[Dean]

A little background
We just returned from our 5th trip to WDW in the past 7 years and every time we come home and research DVC. This time was a little different. We took the tour at Saratoga and are REALLY thinking of following through.

The main reason we are interested (other than loving WDW) is that our DD9 has celiac disease which means she can not eat anything with gluten (wheat, rye, malt, barley, and oats) or that has touched gluten. This was our first trip to WDW since she was diagnosed and it was AMAZING!!!! A total vacation for me since I didn't have to carry all of her food with us. It was an indescribable experience for her-being able to go into any restaurant and order whatever she wanted.

The idea of having 1 vacation a year where our food issues are taken care of sounds like heaven! We will most likely be using our points for a WDW vacation every year for the near future (probably 10 years or so) and then I am not sure how we will use it... in 10 years the kids will be 19 and 16. Hoping when they get older we can bring friends/cousins.

Now onto the questions:

1. Other than not being able to use our points at the restricted places (cruises, adventure, signature, etc) is there anything else I need to know about disadvantages to buying resale instead of direct from Disney?

2. How does the RCI exchange actually work. It seems you put your DVC points into RCI and request a location and then wait for a match? Do you get to pick specific dates?

3. Is there any difference in the RCI process if you are resale versus direct from Disney?

4. I am a bit confused on the UY cancellation relationship. I have a sense that it is important but I'm not really sure why.

Thank you SO much (in advance for helping!)

I'd only buy enough points to get you by including banking/borrowing for the next 10 years, roughly 10% of so less than you think you need but no more than you can buy without financing.

1. Resale will give you the same as resale in the important areas, the things taken away are of no consequence and you're better off without them. Simply buy to use at DVC and NOTHING else.

2. See #1. The main way exchanges work is you tell them what you want, it's not available, you pay the fee and hope it comes through in time. Don't buy with this as part of your plan.

3. NONE, it' s a poor option for all concerned if you're buying and an OK option for those that have the points and want to use them but didn't have the opportunity or foresight to buy what they actually needed.

4. It is important because if you have to cancel, you'll need to plan what to do with the points and the more time you have, the more protection both to possibly bank or to reused or rent.

 

[daraweb]

Dean,

Thank so much! We would be buying (resale) enough points for us to get a 1 BR each year with the plan of alternating studio and 2BR so the grandparents can come while they are still able.

We won't be financing since that would use up the $ saved by joining DVC in the first place.

Thank for the info

 

[Dean]

Dean,

Thank so much! We would be buying (resale) enough points for us to get a 1 BR each year with the plan of alternating studio and 2BR so the grandparents can come while they are still able.

We won't be financing since that would use up the $ saved by joining DVC in the first place.

Thank for the info

Glad to help and good luck.

 

[dbs1228]

Okay I have to chime in since I said the same thing "in 10 years my DD's will be late teens" guess what they still want to go! lol Now they want friends and boy friends to come and they want to use our points without us! I am glad we bought but we bought to stay at DVC and not trade out! Keep reading, go resale and enjoy! The separate bedroom, kitchen, washer/dryer are a huge plus for us it is a home away from home!

 

[Missyrose]

First, there's a great ebook you can buy on Passporters that covers a lot of the basic info. You can find that book here.

Second, as far as using DVC for the next 10 years or so. Just remember all these contracts have an end date (with the first set ending in 2042), so as you get closer to those end dates, the prices on the resale market will probably continue to drop.

But if you think you want to go to Disney every year or two, DVC could work very well for your family. Plus with 1-bedrooms or larger, you'd have a full kitchen (which could help with getting around the celiac -- I have Crohn's Disease, so it was a big selling point for me).

When it comes to searches, try to avoid the search on the boards themselves (they're too clunky). Instead, go to Google and type disboards.com and whatever you're searching for and it will bring up lots of hits from the Dis.

Hope this helps!

 

[Dean]

Okay I have to chime in since I said the same thing "in 10 years my DD's will be late teens" guess what they still want to go! lol Now they want friends and boy friends to come and they want to use our points without us! I am glad we bought but we bought to stay at DVC and not trade out! Keep reading, go resale and enjoy! The separate bedroom, kitchen, washer/dryer are a huge plus for us it is a home away from home!

I don't think it's uncommon for people to need more points as the potential group grows but I also think it's common for people to think they'll go for many years and later look toward other options. We see that here on DIS frequently, often in the form of exchange related posts. My stance would remain the same for someone expecting to go less in 10 years, buy what you can get by with now and worry about later when it arrives. Better to have too few than too many.

 

[ELMC]

A little background
We just returned from our 5th trip to WDW in the past 7 years and every time we come home and research DVC. This time was a little different. We took the tour at Saratoga and are REALLY thinking of following through.

The main reason we are interested (other than loving WDW) is that our DD9 has celiac disease which means she can not eat anything with gluten (wheat, rye, malt, barley, and oats) or that has touched gluten. This was our first trip to WDW since she was diagnosed and it was AMAZING!!!! A total vacation for me since I didn't have to carry all of her food with us. It was an indescribable experience for her-being able to go into any restaurant and order whatever she wanted.

The idea of having 1 vacation a year where our food issues are taken care of sounds like heaven! We will most likely be using our points for a WDW vacation every year for the near future (probably 10 years or so) and then I am not sure how we will use it... in 10 years the kids will be 19 and 16. Hoping when they get older we can bring friends/cousins.

Now onto the questions:

1. Other than not being able to use our points at the restricted places (cruises, adventure, signature, etc) is there anything else I need to know about disadvantages to buying resale instead of direct from Disney?

2. How does the RCI exchange actually work. It seems you put your DVC points into RCI and request a location and then wait for a match? Do you get to pick specific dates?

3. Is there any difference in the RCI process if you are resale versus direct from Disney?

4. I am a bit confused on the UY cancellation relationship. I have a sense that it is important but I'm not really sure why.

Thank you SO much (in advance for helping!)

I'm glad that you found Disney to be a worry free vacation spot for you! Here is my attempt at answering your questions...hope it helps!

1) To (over)simplify it, if you plan on using DVC points to stay at DVC resorts, there is no current drawback for buying resale. There is always speculation as to whether or not that will change, but the prevailing opinion is that it will apply to resale contracts purchased after the date of announcement of the change. We bought 2 resale contracts without much concern about the restrictions.

2) I'm not understanding why you would want to go through RCI. If you want to stay at any DVC resort you can use your DVC points to book direct at the 7 month window. The advantage of your home resort is that you can book 11 months out. My understanding is that RCI is not in play for booking DVC outside of your home resort. (If I'm wrong about this, someone please correct me!)

3) Not sure.

4) UY refers to when you receive the points and when they need to be used by. So with an August UY, you will get your 2012 points on August 1, 2012 and they need to be used by July 31, 2013. You can borrow from a future use year or bank points no later than 4 months prior to expiration so that you can extend their use by one year.

Again, I hope that helps!

 

[ToddyLu]

I purchased the DVC Guidebook from Passporters and refer to it on occasion.

Here is my take on UY and cancellations.

We have a DEC UY and we typically travel to WDW Oct-Dec. That is a horrible UY for us. Our UY mostly falls AFTER our trips. So if I had a trip booked Oct26-11/2 and had to cancel on Oct 1...I am within 30 days of check in and all those points for the cancelled trip go into holding. I have to use all my points before 11/30--or the end of my UY--and I am passed my banking deadline. I am pretty sure it would be difficult to use those points with a new reservation on such short notice.

I am OK if I book a May trip because if I cancel that reservation I can still bank my points--since my banking deadline is 7/31. Then I have several months from cancellation to the 11/30 end of my UY giving me more time to organize a trip. I hope I explained my understanding of it OK.

Now wait about 3.5 minutes and someone will come along and correct my understanding and get me all confused.

 

[daraweb]

Thank so much for the input. We just hung up with the man who gave us our tour at Saratoga. Even thought we are leaning towards buying resale, we spoke with him for about a half hour and got most of our questions answered.

I will also look into the Passporter book so thank you for that tip.

I got a good laugh reading about the kids getting older and wanting to bring boyfriends! uhg...

 

[dbs1228]

I don't think it's uncommon for people to need more points as the potential group grows but I also think it's common for people to think they'll go for many years and later look toward other options. We see that here on DIS frequently, often in the form of exchange related posts. My stance would remain the same for someone expecting to go less in 10 years, buy what you can get by with now and worry about later when it arrives. Better to have too few than too many.

I totally agree with you (was not even referring to your post at all) but was commenting that for us we have made yearly trips to WDW for 17 years, without missing a year, and every year we would say "next year we will skip wdw" but as soon as we got back from our annual trip we would talk about the next trip. Prior to that before kids DH & I went 3 out of every 4 years so that brings us to about 25 years of going so I know for us it is the right choice. DH has convinced me we have enough points, and I do agree for now and maybe forever. I think before adding on I am going to investigate other timeshares extensively and see what they have to offer.

I was spoiled for many, many years being a travel agent and getting all the "perks" that went with that so vacation to me is NOT in a value resort and we always travel to at least 1 other destination every year sometimes more, again - my prior profession got the ball rolling and there was no turning back!

 

[Dean]

I totally agree with you (was not even referring to your post at all) but was commenting that for us we have made yearly trips to WDW for 17 years, without missing a year, and every year we would say "next year we will skip wdw" but as soon as we got back from our annual trip we would talk about the next trip. Prior to that before kids DH & I went 3 out of every 4 years so that brings us to about 25 years of going so I know for us it is the right choice. DH has convinced me we have enough points, and I do agree for now and maybe forever. I think before adding on I am going to investigate other timeshares extensively and see what they have to offer.

I was spoiled for many, many years being a travel agent and getting all the "perks" that went with that so vacation to me is NOT in a value resort and we always travel to at least 1 other destination every year sometimes more, again - my prior profession got the ball rolling and there was no turning back!

DVC seems to be more of an emotional purchase than most timeshares. I think people over stress about how many points they have and may need. There are always options to extend your overall points, having too few (within reason) is really not an issue unless your emotions make it such and that includes the reallocation issue.

If you want info on other timeshares look at the recent thread about such devoted mostly to Wyndham, look at The Timeshare Users Group, etc. Feel free to email me directly if you want, I'll be happy to help where I can.

 

[ELMC]

Thank so much for the input. We just hung up with the man who gave us our tour at Saratoga. Even thought we are leaning towards buying resale, we spoke with him for about a half hour and got most of our questions answered.

I will also look into the Passporter book so thank you for that tip.

I got a good laugh reading about the kids getting older and wanting to bring boyfriends! uhg...

Keep in mind that your salesperson's objective is to have you buy direct. He gets nothing if you buy resale. If you feel that resale is the best deal for you, I encourage you to stick to your guns, even in the face of high pressure sales tactics. Good luck with your purchase!

 

[linzmot]

We purchased ours resale and have been very satisfied. Most of the things that are restricted with the resales aren't good values for your points anyway!!

 

[Dean]

Keep in mind that your salesperson's objective is to have you buy direct. He gets nothing if you buy resale. If you feel that resale is the best deal for you, I encourage you to stick to your guns, even in the face of high pressure sales tactics. Good luck with your purchase!

I don't think it's cool to continue to bug the salesperson once you've pretty much made up your mind on resale.

 

[daraweb]

I don't think it's cool to continue to bug the salesperson once you've pretty much made up your mind on resale.

I completely agree about nt using up his time. He is a true salesman and is doing his job well. We are "leaning" towards resale but have not ruled out buying direct. Well, I think after our conversation with the rep, we are leaning even further towards resale.

He did say that if we buy resale they "might" make it so that resale-DVC-ers can not stay at the Grand Floridian once it opens...or perhaps any other new properties that may get built in the future. Our rep was quite honest (seemingly) when he said that it always a balancing act with how they handle resale because being able to sell you DVC on the secondary market or to them is a big part of their business and they don'e want to ruin that.

Thanks for all the info...
Dara

 

[chalee94]

4. I am a bit confused on the UY cancellation relationship. I have a sense that it is important but I'm not really sure why.

for future reference, you might want to bookmark the "understanding use year" thread here:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1942668

you want to travel as early in your UY as possible. also, you ideally never want to travel in the last 3 months or so of your UY (jun-jul-aug for a sept UY) - largely due to traveling after your banking window has closed, which limits your options for any current year pts used to book the stay.

use year month is only an issue if you need to cancel. it has nothing to do with when you can call to book a stay.

some examples:

if you have a june UY and a may 2012 trip and you need to cancel 60 days out, your banking window closed on jan 31, 2012 so you'd have to use all of the pts in the reservation before they expire on may 31, 2012.

if you have a june UY and a june 2012 trip and you need to cancel 60 days out, your banking window won't close until jan 31, 2013 so you'd have until then to decide whether to use current year (2012) pts for a reservation in that UY or else bank them to the next year. (you'd still need to use banked and borrowed pts by may 31, 2013.)

if you have a june UY and a may 2012 trip and you need to cancel 5 days out, the pts would turn into "holding" pts so you'd have to use all of the pts in the reservation subject to a 60-day-out limitation - but that won't matter since they expire on may 31...which is less than 60 days out.

if you have a june UY and a june 2012 trip and you need to cancel 5 days out, the pts would turn into "holding" pts so you'd have to use all of the pts in the reservation subject to a 60-day-out limitation - but at least you'd have 12 months before they expire on may 31, 2013 to decide what to do with them.

 

[ELMC]

I don't think it's cool to continue to bug the salesperson once you've pretty much made up your mind on resale.

Dean, that's a very good point and I hope it didn't seem like I was suggesting that. Maybe I need to go back and reread the OP's post.

My point was that while you are in the process of deciding resale or direct, your salesperson is obviously going to try to steer you into buying direct, and the OP should just be mindful of that.

While I'm at it, I will say that buying direct isn't evil, and it does have some great perks (speed and ease of transaction for starters), it's just more money.