A completely clueless DVC wannabe w/ many ???

[mrsmarilyn]

Please be patient with me--i've read many threads, am reading more, but just feeling overwhelmed right now!

Background--I am a die-hard disney fan. DH thinks (thought) Disney was the anti-Christ. Kept telling him he's just been with the wrong people. FINALLY got him to go this last month, along with our 5 year old twins. We stayed at SSR (rented points). He came home thinking we should buy DVC! ;-) See--I knew he just needed to go with me, LOL.

Part of me wishes we had that trip $$ to put toward DVC but the rest of me knows we wouldn't even be thinking DVC if we hadn't gone.

So now we're looking at DVC. We've never done a timeshare. I have a broad understanding of the process, kind of, sort of (ok not really...)

Random and assorted questions...

How many points are a good # to start? (I know what our week cost, wondering about where to begin)

Do points ever go on "sale", if you want to add points down the road?

is AKL up for sale yet?

How does one purchase from a reseller? Is that less expensive? More expensive?

I know currently SSR lasts 10 years more than the others, and that your home resort allows you to book your reservation further ahead than the others. Other than that, I'm kind of clueless.

One big hurdle for us is financing--can you finance? How much does the yearly maintenance run?

Another hurdle--DH cannot book his vacation any sooner than January of the year it is occurring, and sometimes not any sooner than the quarter it is occurring, so booking 7-11 months out simply cannot happen for us. Does that mean we're doomed? At this stage a 1 bedroom works for us (studio too small, don't need a 2 br yet).

I'm sure more questions will occur, I'm just happy that DH has started to "convert" ;-) Only took 10 years (our 10th anniversary is in October

TIA

Marilyn

 

[lisajl]

I had many of the same questions. Someone posted to just check out the DVC board. I found many answers there. Just look over what others have posted. I also sent for info from Disney. They sent me a beautiful book with all sorts of info including pricing and financing.
When we buy, we will buy from The Timeshare store. We cannot afford the $15K needed to buy into Saratoga Springs and I WILL NOT make another bill for us. I want to pay cash. We can do that if we find a contract for about 50-75 points.
We can always add on later.

Good luck with your search....with you on the DVC Journey!
Lisa

 

[starwood]

Our first purchase was a resale at OKW of 100 points. We came home from our first trip home and DH said he wanted another 35 points. So we bought those from DVC.

Resale is cheaper per point but there are closing costs. DVC was more per point but we didn't have any closing costs on the 35 points (don't know about initial purchase which would have been 150 points). Through banking of our points we had a studio at OKW for 1 week in 2005, a studio at Beach Club for 4 days in 2006 and in April we are getting a 2 bedroom (borrowing 10 points from next year) at OKW for a week. I think once DH sees the 1 bedroom part of the 2 bedroom unit he will want go get more points again.

As I understand OKW has the cheapest maintenance. What we do to mitigate our maintenance is use our Disney Visa for everything. This year our dues were around $600. I had $328 Disney Visa reward dollars which I used for part of the dues. So my dues for this year are only around $270.00.

We paid cash for our points so I can't comment on financing.

If you are interested in resales I highly recommend the time share store.

 

[jekjones1558]

Congratulations on getting a convert!
A few answers:
• Check out the link at the top of this page "DVC Points Charts" to get an idea about how many points you would need for a 1 bedroom at various resorts/seasons. To make this affordable, you will probably want to buy enough but not extras, at least not now. You can add-on points later directly through Disney or through resellers if you decide you need and can afford more.
• AKV is only being sold to current members now. It goes on sale March 5 to everyone. Here is a link with some AKV info: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1353622
• There are many resellers of DVC points. An excellent one is The Timeshare Store (see top of this page for links that will give you an idea about prices). If you call you will be given lots of support and you can ask questions that will give you some comfort level.
• SSR has 12 years longer and AKV has 15 years longer than the other resorts. This may or may not be a big factor in choosing your home resort.
• People usually advise newbies to "buy where you want to stay" in order to get the advantage of booking rooms at 11 months at your "home" resort versus at 7 months for any DVC resort. If you cannot book more than 7 months ahead then home resort will have little value to you and you may want to buy your points based on what is the lowest overall cost for initial buy-in and ongoing maintenance fees. Right now SSR with 12 extra years may interest you or OKW if you buy resale.
• Disney will help you finance and I believe that The Timeshare Store also has finance options. If you have no-closing cost home equity loans as an option, that might be a low cost finance option.
Others will have more to add. Good luck in your research and decision. Hope that we can welcome you home soon.

 

[TenThousandVolts]

Since you are not going to take advantage of the 11 month window- I think SSR would be a good choice. No use paying more for points and fees for AKV or BCV... since you won't be able to utilize your home court advantage.

Only you can say how many points you need- check the points charts and buy what you need- direct from disney you have a minimum buy-in of 150 poits, which will graduate to 160 in a couple of weeks (March 4 I think)
You could purchase a resale with less points if you go that route.

Yearly Fees at SSR are $4.12 per point: Expect that to increase over time - at the approx. rate of inflation.

Financing is available from Disney and The Timeshare Store and some other resale outlets.
Through Disney:If you have 50% down and can pay for the remainder in 12 months you pay 5% interest. There is also a 5-10 year term at 10% with 10% down. Not sure what the resellers financing looks like- but there is a sticky on one of these boards with the Timeshare Store's rates.

Yes- they run specials on points sometimes- right now you get $10 off of the $101 per point price- so SSR is $91 per point. In March that will jump up to $104 per point.

Based on your short-notice planning style- if you plan on travelling during high demand times (Holiday season and I believe Oct. is busy for DVC) I would pass on DVC.

Good luck!

 

[alldiz]

I agree with above posters....if you cant book way in
advance...dosent matter where you are....

OKW probably the cheapest way to go...to buy and annual dues...

Saratoga extra 12 yrs...

Timeshare store has interest rate of 9.96% for 5 years....
10.96% for 5-10yrs...

I am closing on 150pts at WLV...through TSS...
they are very good and helpful....They can answer ALL of your
questions...
Good luck
Kerri

 

[Deb & Bill]

As your child attends school, will your vacations be limited to school breaks? Getting a one bedroom with less than 3 months to go might be difficult. Unless you go during the summer. SSR or OKW might be available, but you will also use more points during these times.

 

[CarolMN]

If you really can't plan at least 7 months in advance, I think DVC may be frustrating for you to own. (Unless you wouldn't mind staying at SSR most visits - it's the largest and most likely to have availability after the 7 month mark goes by).

In general, DVC works best & returns the most value for the money for those who:

1. Travel to WDW (or VB or HHI) at least once a year
2. Stay in a Deluxe on site resort when they do
3. Can plan at least 7 months ahead (10 -11 months is better)
4. Can minimize / avoid Friday & Saturday night stays (Weekend nights cost more points)
5. Have the discretionary income to commit to at least annual Disney vacations. DVC covers only lodging - you'll still have to pay for travel, food, admission & souvenirs.

If those criteria don't all apply to you, my advice is to continue to rent points for now. DVC might still work for you, but I think you should take your time deciding - collect more information and do the math for your family.

This is pretty biased group in favor of DVC - Sometimes it is very hard not to get caught up in the hype!

 

[tfc3rid]

DVC works for me... I plan about 3 to 4 months in advance, occasionally do summertime sometimes not... I've chosen to stay at OKW lately because the gf and I don't do the parks... We pretty much go whereever the wind blows when we down in WDW... DVC is great for a number of getaways during the year to FL...

 

[YoMickey]

Not to pry in to your personal finances but I would certainly hope that college funding is in line for your 5 year old before you go financing DVC. It is a luxury item and in now way does it save you money unless you have the means and desire to always stay at premium resorts every time you visit Disney.

If you are at the max for you retirement contributions both IRA's and/or 401k and college funding then by all means, buy as many point as possible without having to finance.

Also, buying from The Timeshare Store saved us some money. At the time Disney did not have the use year or the point quantity we wanted.

There are some very nice Non-DVC accomodations available that you could try or continue to rent DVC points.

Good Luck.

 

[PottersMom]

everyone has a different opinion- which is what makes these boards so helpfull. You get a lot of pro/con information. I think everyone has hit the nail on the head about analyzing your familys needs.
My Story:
Its just the two of us, right now and we usually stay at a value, we are limited on the time of year we can vacation, usually plan about 6-8 months ahead and spend b/w $1K & 3K a year on vacations. We will only be able to visit every other year for the next five years or so. At first it weems like we wouldn't be good candidates for DVC membership, but recently it struck me, that we could make it work for us by buying far fewer points. For the types of accomodations we would need, at the times we want to go, we only need 60-80 points. Since we know we will be traveling to Europe in 2008(to see DH fam.)- we decided to buy a HH contract for 40points and bank and borrow to get what we want this year and in '09. We are considering doing an add on in '08 or '09 if we think we will be able to go more often.
This is costing a little more than what we spend on our annual vacation, but we will get use out of it for many years. So we feel this is an incredible value. The maint. fees aren't bad compared to other timeshares, and the best part is it we will be staying in much nicer resorts during our stay. We are very excited about our purchase. Have a good look at your needs and what your anticipated travel plans/ expenses are for the next few years. Happy decision making!