DVC information needed please!

[SRB4x41ab]

My wife and I are trying to decide if the DVC is right for us. We have a 3 year little girl so we go at least once a year. I'm going to be asking alot of questions so if there is any information you could pass along it would be greatly appreciated. I want to say thank you in advance for all of your answers.

1. How many points do you have to have yearly to be a member?

2. How much are the yearly dues per point?

3. If I don't use my points one year (yeah right) will they be transfered to the following year?

4. If I purchase my points at AK do I have to stay there or can I stay at another resort?

5. Is it better to purchase new or at resale? Pros or cons?

6. Is it difficult to get reservations? If so, what months have you found to be difficult?



If there is any other information you know that I have not asked please pass it along. Once again from my family to yours thanks for reading and helping! God Bless!

 

[Sandisw]

My wife and I are trying to decide if the DVC is right for us. We have a 3 year little girl so we go at least once a year. I'm going to be asking alot of questions so if there is any information you could pass along it would be greatly appreciated. I want to say thank you in advance for all of your answers.

1. How many points do you have to have yearly to be a member?

2. How much are the yearly dues per point?

3. If I don't use my points one year (yeah right) will they be transfered to the following year?

4. If I purchase my points at AK do I have to stay there or can I stay at another resort?

5. Is it better to purchase new or at resale? Pros or cons?

6. Is it difficult to get reservations? If so, what months have you found to be difficult?



If there is any other information you know that I have not asked please pass it along. Once again from my family to yours thanks for reading and helping! God Bless!

Here are a few answers to your questions:

1. To buy directly from Disney, you must purchase a minimum of 160 pts. If you buy resale, then you can buy any contract, for any number of points. Once you are a member, then you can add on points directly through Disney at other resorts, or your home resort, at smaller amounts--some are harder to get but possible.

2. Buying direct can cost you more per point up front than resale, but right now, if Bay Lake Tower at the Contemporary is someplace you are interested in, you can only get that through Disney. Though Disney has incentives that can bring the cost closer to the resale market.

3. Different resorts have different ending dates (ie: BLT is 2060, AKL is 2057, SSR is 2054, and most of the other are 2042--except some OKW contracts have an extension). That plays a role in value when comparing contracts.

4. MF run anywhere from $3.67 per point at BLT up to over $6.00 at VB. Most hover in the $5.00 range.

5. Where you own points is considered your 'home resort'. You get to book your vacations 11 months in advance at your home resort. If you want to stay at other Disney DVC properties, you have to wait until 7 months before. In some seasons, and at some resorts, this can make a difference, so the advice is to "buy where you want to stay" just in case you can't trade out at the 7 month mark.

6. When buying, look at the UY your points will be given to you. The first 8 months of the UY allow you to "bank" your points if they won't get used into the next UY. You want it to be right before you typically vacation to maximize its advantages. So, if you travel every year in the summer, a June UY is ideal because it allows you to cancel a trip and still bank the points (as long as you cancelled at least 31 days ahead).

7. Resales will incur closing costs that may not happen through Disney and it takes longer to get your points and book vacations. Usually with Disney, it is much shorter to get your points and become a member. ALso, Disney offers financing (not a great rate) but you might have to find your own when going resale.

8. Disney is offering incentives right now for people who have a member referral (willing to give you my info so I can PM you if you want). If you want to talk with a great Disney guide (no pressure), let me know and I will PM you my guides name--he is great!

9. You should have little trouble booking at the 11 month mark at your home resort, but some resorts are very tough at the 7 month mark. BCV and BWV are tough during Food & Wine in October. VWL and BLT will probably be difficulty during December for the holidays.

I am a fairly new member but did a lot of research before buying. There is a lot throughout the boards put feel free to PM me if you have specific quesitons! HOpe this gets you started. Happy planning!!!!!

 

[SRB4x41ab]

Bump

 

[chalee94]

1. How many points do you have to have yearly to be a member?

as stated, you can start by buying direct for a minimum of 160 pts or you can look for a resale contract for as few as 25 pts.

2. How much are the yearly dues per point?

here's all the history of BCV's annual dues/maintenance fees (and those of the other resorts).

3. If I don't use my points one year (yeah right) will they be transfered to the following year?

no. you have to choose to "bank" the pts into the next "use year" to transfer them. you can only transfer them once and then they will expire at the end of the next use year if not used. (you can also choose to "borrow" pts from the next use year if you need more to complete a reservation). banking and borrowing are both final transactions - pts cannot be put back into their original use year.

see this thread for more information on understanding use year.

4. If I purchase my points at AK do I have to stay there or can I stay at another resort?

you can book AKV up to 11 months out if you own there. if other resorts have availability at the 7 month mark, you can book them then. smaller resorts like VWL and BCV can be more difficult than others.

5. Is it better to purchase new or at resale? Pros or cons?

here is some good info, stolen from DVCMike:

Initial Purchase from DVC

• You can get the exact number of points that you want (although you must buy a minimum of 160)
• Faster than resale (you will be in the system and have your points and be able to make reservations much faster than resale)
• No worries about the purchase if Disney executes ROFR, since that only applies to resale purchases
• More expensive cost per point than the resale market
• You can finance through DVC, and Disney doesn’t report the loan to credit reporting agencies
• You can pay with a Rewards credit card and get points/cash back
• The full set of points you buy will be available immediately, versus a resale contract which may be “stripped” of points.
• If you don’t want the resorts they are currently selling (AKV/SSR/BLT), you may have to do some firm talking to a guide to convince them you really want an older resort.

Initial Purchase via Resale

• You may not get the exact number of points you want
• You can purchase less than 160 points for your initial buy-in to DVC (Disney won’t let you buy less than 160 points).
• It will take much longer to get into the DVC system and have your points (resales typically take 6-8 weeks)
• Disney may exercise ROFR and you may lose the resale and have to start all over (When buying resale, one of the potential pitfalls to try to avoid is making an offer that will cause Disney to exercise it’s Right of First Refusal)
• Resale is typically less expensive than buying from DVC
• You can’t finance through DVC, although most resale brokers will recommend a finance company
• A resale contract may be “stripped” of points where the user has used many of the current year’s points, and may have borrowed some or all of next year’s points. Just be aware of “stripped” contracts on the resale market.
• Easier to pickup large point packages at any of the older DVC resorts.

6. Is it difficult to get reservations? If so, what months have you found to be difficult?

timeshares in general work better if you can plan a year or so in advance. if you can't book at least 8 months in advance, there is no "home resort advantage" and you should buy where the costs are lowest. if you can't book at least 6 months in advance, i would recommend against DVC for you.

some times when you need to book at exactly 11 months: early december is pretty tough all the way around - but VWL is especially difficult because it's small and has nifty decorations and a boat to the MK. late sept-early nov is tough at the epcot resorts (BCV/BWV). also, certain room types have a low supply, such as the less expensive "standard view" at BWV and value and concierge rooms at AKV.

the info above about expiration dates for the different resorts' contracts is good.

here are some more standard basics about DVC:

DVC is a timeshare deal that allows you to prepay room costs for staying at WDW.

the DVC works best for people who:

1) go to disney at least every other year
2) prefer to stay onsite at deluxes (or at least moderates)
3) can plan their vacations 10 or 11 months in advance
4) can limit Fri-Sat stays since weekend point costs are significantly higher (although this may be changing)
5) intend to use DVC primarily for staying at a DVC resort at disney (rather than trading out for other timeshares or cruises, etc.)
6) need or prefer larger accommodations than a basic hotel room

OTOH, there are lots of good reasons to balk at buying DVC:

1) thousands of $ upfront plus annual fees require a certain level of financial ability and commitment (and still need to pay for tickets and travel, etc.)
2) commitment to wdw/fear of wdw burnout (sorta - while you can trade out, the best value is staying at the DVC resorts)
3) DVC not as deluxe as deluxe hotels in some senses (limited housekeeping, sofabeds, no room service at some DVC resorts)
4) prefer to stay on weekends and weekend point costs are MUCH higher
5) financing a depreciating (sooner or later) luxury purchase is generally a poor idea
6) happy with value hotels
7) amenities like a kitchen and washer/dryer have no value for me
8) i don't/can't plan my vacations 6+ months in advance
9) i enjoy hunting for deals/bargains for each trip

If you’ll be upset when other people can pay cash for a room and get a discount or get “free” dining thrown in, then DVC is not for you.

here is how to start figuring the numbers for initial costs:

1) start with the point charts link in the top right corner of the screen, to figure how many pts you need at your preferred resort. also, the point charts are being reallocated in 2010 so you need to be aware of that and consider adding a "buffer."

2) then use the resale listings link in the top right corner of the screen to figure how much a resale contract would cost. add $350-500 to their stated cost as an estimate of closing costs.

OTOH, if you buy direct, estimate closing costs to be in the $250-350 range.

 

[dizneed]

I looked over the responses in another topic "If I knew then what I know now" disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2088247 (trying to post the link but it won't let me 'cause I'm too new) and posted this question there, but I thought I might also get some answers here. So far, there's some very good information here, thanks!

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?

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 3-5 month window? Or are you pretty much locked out of anything unless you book 7-11 months in advance?


We are probably looking at visiting Disney about once every couple years. We are also skiiers (though not so much lately) and might consider using points one year to do a ski trip at one of the ski area places that are listed in the plan. Has anyone done that?

 

[chalee94]

ideally, you really should have just hit the "new thread" button and started your own thread, but...

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?

you definitely get better financial value when using points for a DVC resort. i've heard a lot of concerns about the quality of RCI trades that are available but don't have experience with trading.

if you are determined to book non-wdw vacations on a regular basis, DVC is just not a very good deal. ideally, you should get the points you need to stay onsite at wdw and look for a skiing-specific timeshare for those vacations.

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 3-5 month window?

timeshares in general work better if you plan farther in advance. as long as you are not booking in december or trying to book BCV or VWL, you can often find something (usually at a larger resort like OKW or SSR) but you do risk being frustrated.

if there is availability on short notice, renting a reservation would typically be cheaper ($8 per pt or so), so owning would be less worthwhile in that case, regardless...

you don't sound like a good candidate for DVC, but that's JMHO.

 

[Jacky]

I tried twice this year to go on a four month notice. NOTHING was available. Maybe two nights in the middle of the 3 I wanted, but I couldn't get it.

I think you really need to book by 7 months or 6 at least. I don't think renting points helps at 3 or 4 months-- rental points and nothing to rent....

Jacky

 

[photobob]

I tried twice this year to go on a four month notice. NOTHING was available. Maybe two nights in the middle of the 3 I wanted, but I couldn't get it.

I think you really need to book by 7 months or 6 at least. I don't think renting points helps at 3 or 4 months-- rental points and nothing to rent....

Jacky

I've only tried once to get a reservation on shorter notice-4 months out. I was able to get a studio and waitlisted for a different resort and got it. The time of year you a traveling has a tremendous effect on availability.

DVC definitely favors those who can plan trips well in advance, if you can't it is a crap shoot.

 

[SRB4x41ab]

I have been looking at some resales and I think I have found one that I'm interested in, it's at the VWL. Does anyone here have VWL as there home place? I only need a studio for my small family and I was wondering if they were as nice as the regular rooms in the resort?