50 points - is it worth it?

[Razor Roman]

I was looking at some resales, and for about $5000 I could buy a resale of around 50 points - I could easily afford to pay that in cash, and since I like to go to WDW an average of twice every 3 years, what I normally "save" for a disney trip (I usually stay in a value resort) would probably cover my annual maitenance fees.

Is 50 points worth having? Is it so small that its insignificant?

I'm single now, so most likely I will only be travelling with 1 other person (unless I go with friends, we share a studio, and they buy their own tickets, etc..) but when I have a family will this be a frustrating limit? Or is it still worth having so that I can have a portion of my future family vacations "pre-bought"?

Im sure this has been done to death, but any help would be appreciated!

I'm a former WDW Cast Member and pretty much the expert out of all my friends - Vacation Club seems like a "black art" to me thought!!!

 

[chalee94]

Is 50 points worth having? Is it so small that its insignificant?

it has been enough to get you sun-thurs stays for 2 years out of 3, but that may be changing, as DVC has started increasing weeknights and reducing weekend nights (see the 2010 pt charts).

be aware that if you rely on banking and borrowing, DVC can also restrict that at any time, increasing the risk that a 50 pt contract will be very limiting by itself.

OKW has more hotel-like studios with 2 queen beds instead of a single queen bed with a pullout (doublesize) sofabed, so that is one option for small families. DVC will also be happy to sell you an add-on contract if you need more points to reserve larger rooms...but they may start requiring minimum add-ons of 100 pts (as they are doing with BLT), or they may even require that you add-on to whatever the current minimum purchase is (160 right now).

there have been a lot of changes lately at DVC. no one is sure how many more will occur in the next few years...it's looking a lot more risky right now. just be aware that you're taking your chances if you buy in small...

 

[Razor Roman]

now I understand I can pay more for a longer stay... is there an option to add more points on later? (as in change my annual allotment, or can I only buy an extra bank of points on a one time only basis)

It's kind of annoying that the points per night keeps going up, wasn't the whole point of buying the DVC that you were saving by "prepaying" for your years of Disney Vacations in advance? That type of wording would make me think the points would have the same value, but every year the price of points would go up. I guess that's not the case?

 

[CarolAnnC]

We are limiting discussion of the new points requirement to This Thread on our DVC Planning Board. Feel free to visit there. Thank you.