Hi all, Forgive me if I have silly questions...very new to all this. Recently returned from my 2nd trip to WDW this year. My parents (who we travelled with both times) are now hooked and looking into DVC. They met with a guide who suggested 200 points at AK. Their goal is to travel every year, one year with our entire extended family (8 adults, 5 kids at the moment possibly 7 kids in the future) and on the opposite year go just them with another couple (so 4 adults total). First question, does that seem like enough points? Would normally be travelling in January. Second question, opinions on resale vs direct. Only looking to stay at WDW so not worried about restrictions on Adventures by Disney etc. but not sure if there are other restrictions I'm not aware of. Also what is a good price for OKW points....saw a listing online for 270 points at $55 per point...all points including this years available. Thanks for the input!
Take a look at a points chart. That will give you all an idea of how many points your family needs based on time of year, resort, room type, etc. I believe in buying where you want to stay. If you plan to book your trip 8-11 months in advance, then the home resort (where you own) advantage is important. You can look at the ROFR data in one of these threads or check out the market amongst the 4 big sites to see going rates. I bought resale as direct was not an affordable option for our family. Resale can offer big savings. Once you determine # points, home resort, and budget/market prices, you are in a good position to spot the right contract when it comes along. Good luck! Sellers market right now & prices have been increasing in the last month since DVC raised prices on March 20
Others with more in depth knowledge than I will no doubt weigh in, but I'll give it a shot. If, as you say, the intended use is for WDW DVC stays only - no DCL, no ABD, no Disney hotels (non-DVC), then resale is the way to go. You will save THOUSANDS and possible be able to get more points than the original plan of 200. Just keep in mind the dues each year! Look at the points charts for whatever resort you think might be the one you visit the most and look at what the points for night are there. Then you can decide whether 200 are enough to start. January in WDW is a cheap time of year to visit, point wise. We've owned at OKW since 1993 and love the resort. The sizes of the rooms, the cheap points per night required, the laid back open feeling of the resort - just great. But if you decide to look at resales, decide which UY suits your travel plans best and which resort appeals to you because you have a ton of flexibility but also a ton of decisions when you start looking at contracts. OKW has been subjected to a lot of ROFR activity for quite a while now. You'll need to research prices with your broker and by reading these boards to see where Disney has been buying back and where they are letting contracts pass.
You need to take the time to understand how DVC works, banking, borrowing, rules and policies. You need to know which resort is your favorite and buy there. You need to understand what your yearly costs will be including dues, food, travel, tickets, and extras which increase each year. Over the course of ownership, these costs can be hundreds of thousands of dollars. Bill
I think OKW would be good as you can book a 3BR grand villa there for relatively less points than the other grand villas and the villas at OKW are way larger than others. AKV isn't bad in that you can book the value or standard view villas and they take less points than other resorts (you can get a couple/few 2BRs for the big family trips). SSR is one of the best deals going since the buy in is one of the lowest and the annual dues are lowest there too (BLT has bee steadily climbing). You can also book the 3BR treehouse villas there and they aren't too high in point cost either. AKV and SSR are longer contracts unless you can find an extended contract (those don't get snagged up by Disney in ROFR). SSR, OKW and AKV are going in the resale market for about $50s to $60s /point. AKV doesn't get snagged up by Disney in ROFR too much either (SSR and OKW-not extended have been getting snagged up). And I think you'd need more than 200 points. If you did two 2BRs for a week in Jan at 432 points and then the following year just a week for 4 adults in a 1BR at 157 points....that's 589 points over 2 years or 295 a year (but can borrow or just go for 6 nights leaving off a Sat night). A 3BR grand villa instead of two 2BR villas would save 83 points, so the 270 you were suggesting might be right on. My family is 8 adults and 7 kids (mostly teens now) and we all go to WDW every other Xmas. SIL1 owns DVC and we own DVC...for this Xmas we booked two 2BRs (each for family of 5...SIL1 booked hers and I booked ours) and then a studio (for family of 3) and a 1BR (for MIL and FIL)....so it's like three 2BRs (though MIL doesn't want her 1BR to be connected to anyone else's room, so I had to actually book the studio and 1BR separately and it cost me more points...insert eyeroll here).
You also need to know that booking at a non-home resort can be tough even if you try at exactly seven months out. Some villa categories are hard to get if you don't book them at 11 months out (so you need home resort advantage). So buy where you don't mind staying if you can't change your reservation at seven months out.
Do more investigation. Go resale unless they must have GF. 200 points will not be enough as laid out for a week every year I do not think. They'll likely need two 2 BR units EOY and either a 1 BR, 2 studios or 2 BR EOY. The 1 BR only works if someone sleeps on the pullout. For the larger trips you might be able to get by with a 2 BR and 2 studios. I'm thinking they're going to need at least 350 points every year, maybe even 400.
Thanks for all the replies! I'm doing a lot more research before we make any decisions but you have all been helpful! A few more questions that came up after reading your replies.....can you book something at home resort 11 months out and then cancel that if you can find something at another resort at the 7 month mark? Also I'm not sure if I explained it well enough but they are only planning on taking the whole family every other year and just 4 people on the opposite year....so I think thats why the guide suggested 200 points and then to bank and borrow but that still seems low to me...
yes. many DVCers do it this way when they can find availability at 7 months out. it's no problem. (and if nothing else is available at 7 months, it's good to have a reservation already made.)
If your parents are supplying the rooms for the 15 people you mentioned every other year, as pps have stated above, they will need much more than 200 points. If you want to stay in a Grand Villa and a second room type (1 BR?), you should definitely buy where you want to stay. I understand that GVs book up well prior to the 7 month mark many times of the year, even at the resorts that tend to have better availability. (Does anybody have a better sense of this? Most of the time? Some of the time? All of the time?)
Also, if they do buy as many as 300-400 points as suggested above, they should strongly consider buying two smaller contracts, rather than one large one. It's a lot easier to sell 2 200 point contracts than one 400 point contract -- who knows if their travel patterns will stay the same. And they may find that they want to "downsize" rather than sell all points in the future -- which they can't really do with a 400 point contract -- they can only sell the whole thing and buy another. Of course, doing it that way can be more expensive -- not sure what the per point differential would be buying 400 vs. 200, but you will have an extra set of closing costs.
Thanks for the helpful responses! These are some calculations I've figured out....feel free to tell me I'm crazy if it would be impossible to get some of these reservations? Ex: if we bought a 230 point contract at AKV and booked 4 standard studios for 1st week of Jan at 324 points (by borrowing from next year). That would leave 136 points for following year for my parents to use 107 points to book a studio at Beach Club (leaving 29 points for following year). The following year use 29 leftover + 230 new + 123 borrowed to book 1-1bdr and 1-2bdr at AKV and then continue on in this fashion banking and borrowing? Is this a plausible idea? I'm thinking AKV might be a good choice as home resort as you can get some good rates on value studios and 1 or 2 bdrms...although I know I can't bank on being able to secure those. Thanks again for all the input!
Assuming the same resort and UY you're talking likely an extra $2500-3000 difference. IMO it's not worth the extra cost simply for future options. It does make sense in some situations but mostly when you want a high demand resort for part of the points OR for 2 different high demand resorts. But not simply for insurance and resale options. I think it's unrealistic to think of only standard view studios or similar for most trips. Realistically you're looking at two 2 BR or a 2 BR plus 2 studios depending on the makeup of the group. For value rooms that's 323 for a 2 BR plus 2 studios, 370 for two 2 BR units. If you move to standard view, you're looking at around 382-440 for those years. Again realistically for 2 adult couples you're looking at a 2 BR off years. Since you're looking at lower cost units for the cheapest time of the year, it's a significant risk to also undercut the points too much. For that group anything under 300 points a year is almost certainly not going to be enough. Most reasons I can think of that one might buy less in this situation I would likely not buy in. The only reason I would buy in for less personally that I can think of would be if waiting for a retail offering like GF or similar to add to it. If finances were the reason I'd simply wait and save.
