Stupid question #1
If this like a time share?? But it is done with points??
It is exactly like a time share, done with points. Disney pioneered this sort of time share with the debut of the DVC in 1991. The way it works is that you purchase a certain number of points (150 is the minimum buy-in direct from Disney, but you can purchase fewer points from a re-seller). These points entitle you to 150 points for use per use-year until the end of your use agreement (2054 at Saratoga Springs, 2042 at all other DVC resorts). The points can be banked for 1 year, or borrowed from the next year; in other words, if you bought 150 today, you could save those 150 points for use in 2008 and have a total of 300 points for use then. You could also borrow 150 points today from next year's allotment, giving you 300 points you could use today. You can also combine banked and borrowed points that would let you bank this year's points until 2008, and borrow 2009's points for use in 2008, giving you a grand total of 450 points for use in 2008. Points must be used or banked by the end of your use year or they are lost. You can only bank points 1 time (in other words, you can't save your 2007 points to 2008, and then save your 2007 points again for 2009).
Each night of the year is assigned a certain point "cost" (you can look up
points charts here:
http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-vacation-club/DVCpoints.shtml). The points needed for a stay per night depend on the resort, time of year and type of accommodation booked.
Stupid question #2
Is it worth it? We go to Disney or Universal every year, but only for a 3 day trip each time. Is that too short for this to work for us??
This is a harder question to answer. It is different for everybody. For my family, we spend 10 nights or more a year at WDW. We also spend at least a week at the beach and we take frequent cruises. For us, it made perfect sense to purchase. We have the one time fee for our points (we purchased 250 points), and the annual dues. Every owner must pay annual dues, either monthly or annually, of around $4.50/point (again, depends on where you own). For your situation, I don't think it sounds like a good fit. You would be at WDW every other year for only three nights; I would think you could do better renting points from a DVC member for a stay in a villa, or simply paying prevailing rates for a hotel. You would probably come out better that way.
