Want to pull the trigger BUT...

[gatorgirl02]

First off, I wanted to say thank you to everyone for the awesome advice and sharing of knowledge. I feel armed and (almost) ready to venture into the wonderful world of DVC ownership.

So my DH and I have decided to officially start the bidding/buying process on a resale DVC contract. However, instead of the 150+ point contract we initally thought we were going to purchase, we are thinking that a smaller contract might be the way to go because 1) we are looking to only spend a couple weekends a year in a studio at WDW and 2) if we find out it is something we don't use as much, we wouldn't have sunk that much into it. Also, if we use it more than that, we can always add on another contract, plus it seems like it is easier to sell smaller contracts. That being said, it will be a bit tougher to buy a smaller contract. Oh well, you can't have it both ways.

With that said, my questions are these:
1. If we plan on going early December plus a Disney race (either Princess or one of the fall ones, and we plan on possibly adding on a contract later, which UY would make more sense: March, June, August or September?
2. We were hoping to do our two trips this year in Dec and also the Wine and Dine 1/2 marathon in November. Would we even be able to get anything, assuming the earliest we would close would be June-ish?

As always, thanks for your help!

 

[permavac]

Well, if it were me, I would prefer a March use year for going in Nov/Dec. That way, if there is a problem and you need to cancel your trip, you still have time to bank your points (by the end of your 8th month - which would be October - I think - hopefully someone can confirm). *** UPDATE: Glad you got better advice than this! I obviously wasn't thinking here - I take my vacations in January and February, so I have just recently got a December and October use year AND getting the month or two before you travel is the best advice. I don't know why I said March originally - guess I was confused!

As for your 2nd question, that's about 5 months away and you usually can get something, somewhere in WDW. Depending on how busy that time of year is though, you might be stuck at just what's available versus your first choice and/or, even worse, there may only be availability of one night at one property and two at another so you will end up with many reservations at different DVCs and moving around like crazy. Waitlisting at that point is always an option and you might get lucky and get all the days you need at one resort or at least a split stay with one week at one resort and the next at another. Of course, best case scenario is you get exactly what you want with no problem or wait, and that is not unheard of either. Bottom line, there's no way to know for sure until you start the process. You just have to keep your fingers crossed.

Good luck!

Terri

 

[chalee94]

1. If we plan on going early December plus a Disney race (either Princess or one of the fall ones, and we plan on possibly adding on a contract later, which UY would make more sense: March, June, August or September?

2 rules on UY month:

1) ideally, you'd like to travel early in your UY - so dec UY is great for dec trips

and

2) you never want to travel in the last 3 months of your UY, so dec UY is bad for sep-oct-nov trips.

(i'm not sure when the races are.)

2. We were hoping to do our two trips this year in Dec and also the Wine and Dine 1/2 marathon in November. Would we even be able to get anything, assuming the earliest we would close would be June-ish?

you never know for sure, but i wouldn't count on getting anything at that point. you might find a weekend (maybe at a 1BR at SSR or OKW) available, though - it's worth calling to try...

 

[gatorgirl02]

2 rules on UY month:

1) ideally, you'd like to travel early in your UY - so dec UY is great for dec trips

and

2) you never want to travel in the last 3 months of your UY, so dec UY is bad for sep-oct-nov trips.

Well now I am confused again. I thought a December UY would be bad... Can you elborate on your first point.
For example, if I buy a contract with a Dec UY, and there are existing points on it from Dec '11, and I make a reservation for the beginning of December and then have to cancel in October, won't I loose those points because I can't bank them since I outside the 8 month window? In that case, wouldn't it have been better to have a June or April UY, so I wouldn't loose the points?

Thanks for helping a confused girl out...

 

[hakepb]

For a Dec UY. The '11 points would expire nov 30, 2012. Unless you banked them into the 12 UY. (i think the end of the banking window is july 31, 12) Then the '11 points would expire nov 30,2013.
The only way to make a dec 2012 reservation with 2011 points is to already bank them. If you cancelled that trip in October 2011, you would have until Nov 2013 to use those banked points and that much time is a good thing

 

[gatorgirl02]

For a Dec UY. The '11 points would expire nov 30, 2012. Unless you banked them into the 12 UY. (i think the end of the banking window is july 31, 12) Then the '11 points would expire nov 30,2013.
The only way to make a dec 2012 reservation with 2011 points is to already bank them. If you cancelled that trip in October 2011, you would have until Nov 2013 to use those banked points and that much time is a good thing

Thanks for your assistance. Ok, so then for my purposes, if I wanted to take Dec trips, would you still say a Dec UY is best, or what would be another UY?

 

[hakepb]

A dec UY is ideal for December trips.
But you have to consider the future. What is the likelihood you will take a Thanksgiving trip or F&W or MnSSHP?
If summer is less likely than fall, October may be better in the long run.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

They don't have any marathons in the summer, do they?

It sounds like Oct, Nov, Dec or Jan would be the months you might travel the most? If so an Oct or even Sept UY will give you the most flexibility should you ever have to cancel a reservation close to your time of travel.

 

[chalee94]

plus a Disney race (either Princess or one of the fall ones...

looked it up online and the races seem to fall from sept through feb, right?

in that case, an august or sept UY would be your best bet (unless you decide to visit in june or july for some reason).

to be clear, UY month is only an issue if you need to cancel. if you have a sept UY, you can book the last week in august if you want - but if you need to cancel, you might run into some issues.

but an august or sept UY will still work fine for december trips as well as a "tower of terror ten-miler" in september.

 

[gatorgirl02]

Chalee - Thanks so much for taking the time to look up that info and for your advice, this is exactly what I was looking for!

 

[disneynutz]

Don't think calendar year, think UY with your UY month being the start of a 12 month period.

We don't like WDW in warm weather so our travel season is Oct - May. That covers Food and Wine, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Flower and Garden.

With an Oct UY, the first 8 months, (our bankable period) matches our favorite time of year and our favorite events at WDW.

If we have to cancel, we can bank and save our points. We have had to cancel 4 times so far due to situations beyond our control.

Bill

 

[gatorgirl02]

We don't like WDW in warm weather so our travel season is Oct - May. That covers Food and Wine, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Flower and Garden.

With an Oct UY, the first 8 months, (our bankable period) matches our favorite time of year and our favorite events at WDW.

If we have to cancel, we can bank and save our points. We have had to cancel 4 times so far due to situations beyond our control.

Bill

Bill - Thanks for the advice. I think our travel habits will be pretty similar to yours, since we likely won't be doing summers in WDW, as we are FL residents and know better than that. I originally thought October would be a good UY, but seeing as there are not too many of them around and we would possibly want to add on a contract at a later date, I am inclined to go for an August or September UY.