Just purchased DVC Grand Floridian

Jetsfan523

Earning My Ears
Joined
Aug 28, 2013
After a week in the Contemporary Resort with my family I decided to purchase a DVC membership at the Grand Floridian Villas. I purchased 200 points (probably will purchase another 100 before they sell out). I was offered a set of 200 bonus points for my purchase at the Grand Floridian, has anyone heard of this promotion? I paid $150 a point and I will receive the bonus points right away and my first set of points in April of next year. Thanks
 
You were given the current year points for your April Use year. You did not receive bonus points but the points you deserve because of your use year. They may call them bonus points but it is not truly correct.
 
After a week in the Contemporary Resort with my family I decided to purchase a DVC membership at the Grand Floridian Villas. I purchased 200 points (probably will purchase another 100 before they sell out). I was offered a set of 200 bonus points for my purchase at the Grand Floridian, has anyone heard of this promotion? I paid $150 a point and I will receive the bonus points right away and my first set of points in April of next year. Thanks

Well known DVD sales tactic, "bonus points", don't feel bad, most new buyers would never think that Disney would slant the truth.

Did you select your UY or did the sales person select it for you? Depending on your vacation habits it might not be the best UY for your situation.

:earsboy: Bill
 
Do you have to pay 2013-UY maintenance fee for those "bonus points"? If not, they are kind of like bonus points... But my impression that it was charged in the purchase price, hidden somewhere.
 


The annual dues for 2013 April UY points is $1.038 per point. This will be due in December.
 
The Disney Rep that I purchased from said something about how the resort wont open until October so technically I cant get any points until then and on every April 1st is when I will receive my 200 annual points into my account. I'm sorry for not understanding so well i'm new to this. Was I able to pick the month that I receive my points? He never told me he just said that April was the month. How will the month I receive them factor into when I can vacation? Since you guys are saying he kind of tricked me with the bonus points tactic was there any other promotions being offered right now that he failed to mention? I mean I just gave the 20% deposit I didn't close on the property yet so any tips from anyone would be greatly appreciated since I'm new to the whole timeshare thing, Thanks again everyone!
 


So if you are not paying the full due but get full points, shouldn't you consider those points practically "free" as the guide implied?

I know everyone will get the same amount of points when the contract expires in 50 years. But nobody (or very few) people will keep their contracts running until that time so they won't see that ending... They will only see the beginning.
 
The Disney Rep that I purchased from said something about how the resort wont open until October so technically I cant get any points until then and on every April 1st is when I will receive my 200 annual points into my account. I'm sorry for not understanding so well i'm new to this. Was I able to pick the month that I receive my points? He never told me he just said that April was the month. How will the month I receive them factor into when I can vacation? Since you guys are saying he kind of tricked me with the bonus points tactic was there any other promotions being offered right now that he failed to mention? I mean I just gave the 20% deposit I didn't close on the property yet so any tips from anyone would be greatly appreciated since I'm new to the whole timeshare thing, Thanks again everyone!

You cannot bank your points 4 months before your anniversary. So if your anniversary (aka use-year) is February, and you change your mind about Christmas trip... those points may be forfeited because they are too late to be banked. So ask yourself, when do you normally travel? Then pick a UY that is not within that 4 month window.

VGF is a very popular resort. There is no known promotion, not even the regular ones on Disney cruises. The only one was an offer to existing DVC owner, for a $5 per point discount. That promotion has expired too.

You should get some Fast Passes for the tour and purchase. But they are not worth much, less than $100 in value in my opinion so it may not be worth the effort.
 
I know its a hard thing to say now but if i'm not a person who usually cancels a trip my UY wouldn't really affect me at all? And I normally travel in January and in the summer months May-August
 
I know its a hard thing to say now but if i'm not a person who usually cancels a trip my UY wouldn't really affect me at all? And I normally travel in January and in the summer months May-August

With those travel months April is probably the best use year- you just have to be careful if you ever need to cancel a January trip- the rest of your traveling fits into an April use year anyway but you could have selected any use year after April and gotten the same deal on the points (only Feb and March don't get 2013 points do to the date of declaration of the points.
 
I know its a hard thing to say now but if I'm not a person who usually cancels a trip my UY wouldn't really affect me at all? And I normally travel in January and in the summer months May-August

IMO UY is free insurance. You have 8 months from your UY to bank your points. Things in life come up, we have used our UY banking for cancelled vacations twice. Once due to a death in the family and once with a short notice job relocation.

You will find that most of us are trying to educate new buyers and give them the whole DVC picture, the good and the bad. What you do with the info is up to you and everyone's needs are different. There is more to DVC than going on vacation and IMO an educated buyer is a happy buyer. :goodvibes

Believe me I have made a ton of DVC mistakes and learned the hard way, buying at resorts before staying there is one of them. We thought that we would love BLT but we really don't, not that it's a bad resort, it's just not one that we really care for. Yes we own a fixed week at VGF but based on experience and the guaranteed 1 bedroom lake view, we knew that we will love it.

:earsboy: Bill
 
Is it normal that your annual dues get pro rated like mine will in the first year? Or is it just because the resort isn't open yet and they technically cant charge you dues prior to October because the resort was closed.
 
Also is there any tips or anything extra I should know prior to me closing on the property?

Do you know about banking and borrowing, point seasons, limitations on using your points outside of DVC, busy booking times, reservation cancellation policy, DVC perks, and buying resale?

:earsboy: Bill
 
To be honest I have very limited knowledge on everything you just mentioned:confused3 Any information you could give me would be great!!!
 
You got some double talk about the double points, but it is not anything to worry about, and do not let that affect your happiness or lack there of about your purchase.

2013 points are all prorated since the resort does not open until 10/23 ( next year they will be the full amount)

Ideally you want to travel early in your use year. April will be the most common UY for GF, or at least one of them, so in that sense it is good. When contracts are on the resale market, April UY contracts will be easy to get.

You can "bank" points (move them to the next year) but that must be done by a certain time. If you cancel a trip past your banking deadline, you have to use the points before they expire (in your case March 31st)
 
To be honest I have very limited knowledge on everything you just mentioned:confused3 Any information you could give me would be great!!!

As I said there is more to owning than just going on Disney vacations. DVD may be a great fit for you and your family, or it may not.

The topics that I listed have been discussed here on the DIS for years so I suggest that you start reading. Some people don't have an interest in knowing about the product and they take what they can get when it comes to reservations, others want the best chance at getting what they want.

You don't have enough posts to receive a PM yet or I would contact you privately.

:earsboy: Bill
 
So you got "that" guide that made up a "promotion" since there are none. ;)

The good thing is that there are no promotions for VGF so you didn't miss out. :goodvibes

When a new resort opens the dues are paid based on the latest of:
1). Your purchase date
2) The start of your initial Use Year
or 3) The occupancy date of the Unit you purchased

In your case with an April UY and the resort opening in Oct #3 is the latest date so dues are calculated for the last 2+ months of the year. As was mentioned you will receive a bill for those probably in Dec. Shortly after that you will receive a bill for your 2014 dues which are due in mid January of 2014 if you pay in a lump sum or you can elect to set up for a monthly payment which will spread them out over all 12 months in 2014. This will be the same for all Apr, June, Aug, Sept and Oct UY's. Dec UY starts 12/1/13 so they will only have 1 month of dues to pay in 2013. For Feb and March UY's there are no 2013 points so they actually will pay prorated 2014 dues.
 

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