general ?'s

[Tracyplus5]

We're planning a trip for 2012 for our family of seven plus my parents. We want to stay at BCV and, priced around $14000, I'm wondering if vacation club would be the better way to go. We would probably go every other year or so and we like nice views. I'm also interested in some of the other locations over seas and whether or not they are really worth it? We have a Disney Visa that we use for all of our purchases so I'm sure we could easily use that to pay our dues (or at least the majority of them) each year.

I was thinking of doing 200 pts at BCV - mainly because I like the look of that resort, the location (close to Epcot) and the rooms look nice. However, I'll probably try to bring my parents or some other family member or friend a few times (no more then 2 extra ppl/visit) I figure at BCV I could get us in 1- 2 bdr villa the 1st time (youngest will be young enough not to count) and then get them a seperate studio for future trips?... I don't know. ...I just really like the look of BCV and I don't like the contemporary look of BLT. Location is the major draw back of the other options as MK and Epcot are our favorite parks.
We usually go in the 1st 2 weeks of May so we're in the 314 pts range for the 2 bdr @ BCV. Which means I would need an extra 37 pts to book an extra studio room at BCV. How hard is it to rent those and how much is it to rent?
How hard is it really to book non-home resorts? (like the grand villa that stays 12.)
Is there a dining plan option for dvc members?

Sorry for so many ?'s...just trying to get a feel for if it's really worth it for us or not.

TIA!

 

[5forDiz]

If your plans are to travel with grandparents and some extended family more often than not then you might want to consider AKV, BLT or SSR for a Home Resort. 2 bedroom villas at AKV and BLT will sleep 9 plus 1 child under 3 yrs and will also have 3 full bathrooms. TreeHouse villas (THV) at SSR sleep 9 as well plus 1 child under 3 yrs and give you 3 bedrooms as a Grand Villa does but there will only be 2 full bathrooms, but they also have a sizable deck with outdoor dining table & bbq, which you may find appealing with large family.

Your best value pointwise will be at AKV-Standard villas or SSR THV if you're looking for 3rd bedroom(these are same amount of points that 2 bedroom villas are at SSR).

BCV does not have any Grand Villas and its 2 bedroom villas will only sleep 8 plus 1 child under 3 yrs and will only have 2 full bathrooms so that may be something to keep in mind. If you're travelling at peak times
( holiday periods, school breaks, Food & Wine Festival time in particular for Epcot resorts of BCV & BWV) then most DVC resorts can be difficult to book without taking advantage of 11 mos Home Resort priority booking. If you can, it is usually good idea to take advantage of your priority booking window instead of waiting until 7 mos or less when all members can book at any DVC resort. Grand Villas usually go fast at most resorts because there's typically much less of these than other size villas so jmho you'd want to book when 11 month window opens.

With banking you can have double allotment of points to use every other year and with both banking & borrowing you'd have triple allotment to use every third year. You can have points transferred to your member account once per year from another member to give you additional points to use should you find yourself short points to book a trip or you can book a night or two on cash via Member Services usually for 25% discount off rack rate for villa.

Best wishes on your planning.

 

[Tracyplus5]

You can have points transferred to your member account once per year from another member to give you additional points to use should you find yourself short points to book a trip

How does this work?

Also, I know that BCV only has room for up to 8, but couldn't I book 2 rooms at the 11 month window? Or is there a rule/stipulation that prohibits that or would make it difficult?

Another question that I wanted to clarify...so if I have a UY of Feb that I get now and I want to go in May 2011 using pts from 2010 and 2011 and some from 2012- how do I do that? Do I call and bank my 2010 pts first? If so, when do I have to do that. How long are banked pts good for?

 

[Sandisw]

How does this work?

Also, I know that BCV only has room for up to 8, but couldn't I book 2 rooms at the 11 month window? Or is there a rule/stipulation that prohibits that or would make it difficult?

Another question that I wanted to clarify...so if I have a UY of Feb that I get now and I want to go in May 2011 using pts from 2010 and 2011 and some from 2012- how do I do that? Do I call and bank my 2010 pts first? If so, when do I have to do that. How long are banked pts good for?

You can book as many rooms as you want at your home resort at the 11 month window, as long as you will have points available at the time the trip happens to book the rooms--so yes, you can book 2 rooms at BCV if you have the points to do so.

With a May 2011 trip and a Feb UY, you would be able to use 2011 points, banked 2010 points, and borrowed 2012 points to "pay" for the trip. You do have to bank points before they can be used, but that can be done in the same call as when you book a reservation (providing you are in your banking window).

Once banked, they must be used during the UY they are banked into. So, 2010 points that are banked into 2011 would only be good during the 2011 UY.

I think that if you know that BCV is a good fit, buy there. Transferring of points happens when one member decides to get them from another member. A call is made to MS and the points are transferred. Once you receive the transferred points, they are yours to use and you control them. They retain their own home resort and UY so if you want to use them with your BCV points at 11 months, then you would want to seek someone willing to transfer BCV points.