a few questions before we buy

[fourboysandme]

I'm so excited that we are seriously thinking of buying a DVC in the next few months (maybe weeks)! But before we buy, I have a few questions of DVC owners to help our family make the right choice.

1) How many points do you personally have?
2) when do you vacation at WDW?
3) Do you think you have too much, too few, or just enough points?
4) What is your biggest PRO about ownership?
5) What is your biggest CON about ownership?

We are thinking of buying BLT either new or on resale. We are thinking around 200 points, although that may not be enough to do a yearly visit since we have 5 in our family and need a bigger room. We usually go in the fall, but as our kids get older that may have to change to summer. I'm worried about the $$ of all this and that it will be hard to schedule a trip to get the room we want.

Thank you all! I'm hoping that we make a decision soon!!

 

[cvjw]

1) 695 points - split at 4 different resorts
2) We visit Disney for 2 weeks in May/June, and 1 week in Sept
3) I would love more points, but the maintenance fees are killer
4) biggest pro - that we get to stay at Disney for 3 weeks, before DVC, we only stayed 1 week per year. Also, that we can invite family and friends to join us in the villas.
5) biggest con - all of the money we now send to Disney each year - maintenance fees on 695 points, annual passes for 4 people, dining plan for our stays. Also, since we stay for 2 weeks in the summer, the kids always want to visit another park besides Disney - that means more attraction tickets to buy.

Overall, we love our DVC, and are very happy with our purchase.

 

[Sandisw]

I own 210 points at BLT. For us, this will work out fine for the time being as our children are now a bit older and we are down to most trips with just 3 or 4 of us.

I teach so we always travel to WDW in the summer. Now that we own DVC, we will go in August. To take advantage of an AP, we schedule these trips 51 weeks apart so that we can get two trips from one pass.

We typically go for 5 nights a year and with the points we own, can do a 1 bedroom, SV for that amount of points. We bought BLT because we really wanted to stay there and can book 11 months in advance because getting standard view was important.

We have only been members since 2009 but I just love the flexibility of being able to afford the room types. There is just something different about "paying" with points. Yes, I know we spent $20,000 upfront, but it just seems so much more affordable now.

So far, I have really found no cons as we have gotten exactly what we want for our trips as we book far in advance. We have tried VWL, BWV, and BCV and realized that BLT remains our favorite.

Matther of fact, I just called two weeks ago and upgraded my 1 bedroom to a 2 bedroom and was able to get the last SV room for our August 2011 trip so am super excited about this.

I think the key is planning and DVC is good for those that can plan far in advance as it gives you much better luck getting what you want, when you want.

Good luck!

 

[Havana]

I'm so excited that we are seriously thinking of buying a DVC in the next few months (maybe weeks)! But before we buy, I have a few questions of DVC owners to help our family make the right choice.

1) How many points do you personally have?
2) when do you vacation at WDW?
3) Do you think you have too much, too few, or just enough points?
4) What is your biggest PRO about ownership?
5) What is your biggest CON about ownership?

We are thinking of buying BLT either new or on resale. We are thinking around 200 points, although that may not be enough to do a yearly visit since we have 5 in our family and need a bigger room. We usually go in the fall, but as our kids get older that may have to change to summer. I'm worried about the $$ of all this and that it will be hard to schedule a trip to get the room we want.

Thank you all! I'm hoping that we make a decision soon!!

1) 100 points, just purchased this summer. It's only two of us and we stay in a Studio.
2) During 3 day holiday weekends, Christmas and F&W
3) Enough points for now, until we decide that we need a 1 bedroom or want to go more often
4) Love having the vacations booked in advance. Right now we have 3 reservations in going into next summer.
5)Agree with previous poster, we end up giving disney more money since we go more often.

We bought BLT and so far haven't had any trouble booking at 11 months.

 

[AlwaysDreamofDisney]

We have 250 points and just joined over the summer after "thinking it over" for 5 (long) years! We also have 5 in our group with 2 of them being preteen boys they refuse to "share" a bed

We own at California as this was the cheapest to purchase at the time and we can't ever make plans at the 11 months range so that was the deciding factor for us.

I wish we had about 100 more points but DH is happy with what we have. I would love to go for short 2-3 day trips with just DH and he'd rather go elsewhere when we don't have the kids in tow! We have talked about buying more points (yes already) since we borrowed so many from next year's points. We are also a tad sorry that we didn't buy in WDW but oh well!

We stayed at BLT in Aug/Sept 2010. The lines at the park were very short until Labor Day weekend so we actually got to do a lot! The August dates ate a HUGE number of our points but the September dates were great. Our kids didn't start school until after Labor Day weekend so they only missed 1 day of school. Any other time of year they would have missed even more time and we'd have used a lot more points.

Found that staying a BLT was very nice! We could walk to MK in less than 10minutes and that was with a 5 year old! Taking the monorail was painful and took almost twice the time as it goes in the opposite direction and hits ALL of the other resorts before going to the MK.

If you can go in the cheapest times (currently all of January, all of September and first half of December) then your 200 points will go a lot further! Any other time of year and you will be using a lot more points and probably only going every other year.

PRO I love visiting WDW. I get to be a kid too!

CONS the airfare for 5 people is very expensive - so shop around for deals when you are looking at your dates! Had considered visiting in May (30th anniversary) but didn't want to waste all those points - airfare prices this far out were "CHEAP" all of us could have flown for less than 1K!

My DD's (5) favorite ride - this was her first memorable trip as she was there at 17 mos. - was Spaceship Earth! SO even though we stayed at BLT to spend lots of time at the MK she wanted to go to Epcot (every day) to ride the golf ball over and over. Since we've been home there hasn't been a single day that she hasn't looked up at me with tears in her eyes and said "Mommy I really miss Disney World. When are we going to go again!!!"

Good luck with you decision!

 

[DizGirl20]

1. 260 points at AKV
2. Hard to say - it's been all different times of the year - but now that the kids are getting older we most likely be going during Spring Break or during summer vacation for awhile.
3. We just added on 100 points, so I feel 260 is OK for now. We stay in a 1-bedroom. Eventually we will add on more ; we want to pass along our membership (some day!) to our children and I would like to split the the points evenly b/w our 2 daughters. And I have to warn you: you will feel like you never have enough points
4. PRO - b/c we go to Disney every year and want deluxe accommodations, DVC made financial sense for us*
5. CON - annual dues

* I could go on & on about other pros (ex: discount on APs, having a washer and dryer, knowing we will be back next year), but suffice it to say for us the pros outweigh the cons

 

[littlestar]

1) Going from 100 to 175 (in the process of adding on 75 at SSR) Although we have owned over 500 DVC points over the years and bought and sold since 2002.
2) September, January or May
3) 175 will be just enough for a 1 bedroom at OKW or SSR for six nights
4) Biggest pro is I love the theming
5) Biggest con is my husband hates onsite DVC cable tv

We own other timeshares (bought resale), but I adore staying at SSR (peaceful but still Disney). Staying once a year at DVC is my treat for hard work the rest of the year.

 

[honeymo78]

1) 800 points split between AKV, BLT, and BWV
2) May, Sept/Oct, and sometimes Dec
3) enough for now but I'm sure we will add more after we have kids
4) pros - getting to take my mom on vacation, especially to Disneyland. Going to disneyworld regularly and not feeling rushed while there.
5) cons - dues will always increase and we don't have enough vacation time from work to go as much as I'd like to.

 

[AKLFan3]

1. 210 points at Animal Kingdom Villas with an October use year
2. 5 night and 3 night trips anywhere from October through mid-April. We love going at Christmas and for the Flower and Garden Festival.
3. We would love more points but the maintenance fee amount withdrawn from our account every month isn't noticeable for us, which is how we like it.
4. Pro: being able to stay at our favorite resort at least twice a year without paying cash for the room.
5. Con: Paying a monthly maintenance fee

 

[twinboysmom]

1. 200 points at SSR with a June use year. We would be better with another
use year.

2. We have travelled primarily in mid May, October, and early December.

3. Right now it has been the perfect number of points for us. My husband
would love to have more but we can not afford to add on. We will be
starting a new WDW experience for our trip in May as we will now be
traveling as a family of 4. This amount of points has allowed us to bring
family and friends and stay in bigger accommodations or allows us to stay
for longer periods in a studio. We also try to pick less point pricey resorts
and/or views.

4. The biggest pro for us is that is has forced us to vacation. Like I said
previously, we also have been able to travel with friends and family.

5. As for cons, it is still expensive. Dues add up! Some of the more popular
resorts are very difficult to stay in at the 7 month window so planning
in advance is key. Also low attendance times for WDW are not usually
low DVC times.


Something for you to consider is that 200 points at BLT generally don't get you as much time as 200 points say at OKW so that might be something you need to look at. Study the points charts well. Not trying to talk you out of BLT but if going every year is important to you, you might consider buying a cheaper contract at SSR or OKW resale and having more points. Just a thought.

 

[AirGoofy]

1) We have 145 points at SSR and 75 at BLT.
2) We vacation Fall & Spring Break.
3) Never have enough points.
4) Taking multiple WDW vacations per year.
5) UY (Use Year) rules.

We have bought small contracts, pay as you go, and built our way up. We plan to buy more DVC points when we can. If you are going once a year in the fall, depending on the month, 200 is close to a week 1 BR stay at BLT (which has 2 bathrooms) and enough space for the 5 of you.

Originally, we bought into DVC, planning 1 vacation per year in October during Fall Break. So, we did a June UY. Later, we loved the idea of taking 2 WDW vacations a year and have added on points. Now, we have enough for two, 1 week studio stays, and will purchase more to have a 1 BR stay for each. The issue with UY is that if you vacation towards the end of the UY and you have to cancel, then you would not have enough time to cancel and bank your points forward to the next UY.

 

[nolanboys]

1) How many points do you personally have?
2) when do you vacation at WDW?
3) Do you think you have too much, too few, or just enough points?
4) What is your biggest PRO about ownership?
5) What is your biggest CON about ownership?

1) 200 SSR - bought a resale contract this past spring
2) Going for Spring Break - but then won't go again until New Year's 2012 - part of the reason we bought DVC is because we can't pull the boys out of school anymore, so we need to travel in peak times when discounts are scarce. We much perfer the latger accomadations DVC offers, but would never pay rack rate for staying there during peak times.
3) Fine for right now. We only want to do Disney every other year as we can only get away for a big trip once a year because of everyone's schedule.
4) Being able to stay in a two bedroom unit and spread out and relax. We aren't park comandos anymore.
5) The dues. We don't own that many points, but are dues are about $900. We will probably add on when the kids are older and college is done because that expense is going to be huge for us!

 

[fourboysandme]

Thank you all for your help! You brought up many points which I never thought of before, esp. the use year stuff. I guess considering that, we should buy now since we like to go in the fall. Then our use year might work better for us (I hope!). Unless we buy resale, which changes everything!! Also with resale, we could consider other resorts, like WL which is cheaper and still convenient.

It is such a big decision and I appreciate all of your comments and honesty!!

 

[Crystal_27]

I'm so excited that we are seriously thinking of buying a DVC in the next few months (maybe weeks)! But before we buy, I have a few questions of DVC owners to help our family make the right choice.

1) How many points do you personally have?
2) when do you vacation at WDW?
3) Do you think you have too much, too few, or just enough points?
4) What is your biggest PRO about ownership?
5) What is your biggest CON about ownership?

Thank you all! I'm hoping that we make a decision soon!!

1. 220
2. We are fairly limited to our DD's school schedule and right now have trips booked for Christmas, June, and September.
3. We really did our research before we bought and I think we bought just enough points for our family right now. We have enough to stay in a studio for about 2 weeks during the year. Sure, a one bedroom would be nice, but a studio really fits us just fine.
4. Biggest pro - the cost savings. It is so nice going down to Disney and not have to pay for accommodations yet be able to stay in Deluxe resorts. I also like the fact that we're not limited to just Disney resort stays, with the ability to stay at Vero, Hilton Head and, now, Hawaii (not to mention trading into DCL).
5. Biggest con...hmmmm. The upfront and continuing cost (no denying DVC is expensive both upfront and with the MFs). It's a luxury and Disney vacations, even with prepaid accommodations, are still very expensive. Also, there is a planning aspect that you have to be able to commit to. I enjoy planning our vacations a year in advance, but some people can't do it and I think to really get the most out of DVC you have to be willing to commit to planning 11 or 7 months out (that or risk no availability).

Good luck with your decision!

 

[JimMIA]

1) How many points do you personally have?

No offense, but how many points we have has absolutely nothing to do with how many points you need.

And how many points you need depends on what you expect your normal visitation pattern to be. If you plan on visiting annually, you need enough points to get a 1 BR (minimum) for whatever number of nights you will stay, at whatever resort you anticipate visiting.

NOTE: There are HUGE differences in the points costs between the various resorts. The points costs are upwards of 50% higher at some resorts than others. So where you stay makes a big difference.

2) when do you vacation at WDW?

Again, irrelevant. You visit in the fall -- later maybe in the summer -- and THAT is what matters.

3) Do you think you have too much, too few, or just enough points?

I would start on the low side of what you think you will need. We did that originally, later added on, and are now downsizing. Your needs will change, so I'd go light and adjust.

4) What is your biggest PRO about ownership?

We have two "biggest" pros. One is the knowledge that we are going to WDW at least once a year. The other is that, since we know we're coming back, we take our time, smell the roses, and have abandoned the "commando life" for good. We enjoy our WDW visits now that we're not checking "must do's" off our checklist so we can be sure we had a good time!

5) What is your biggest CON about ownership?

We don't have any "con's." But I think the mistake I've seen most often is that prospective buyers focus only on the costs of DVC and forget about the other costs.

The costs of airfare, park tickets, food, trinkets, etc, are FAR greater than the cost of lodging -- whether you use DVC or something else. DVC sort of locks in your lodging costs, but the total cost is a constantly increasing number. Disney is an expensive vacation, and before you take the plunge, I'd look at the entire cost...not just the cost of the villa.

The other big mistake I've seen -- not exclusively with DVC, but generally with all timeshare systems -- is not being educated about what people are buying.

On another forum (not the DIS), a poster asked about spending almost $20,000 for a timeshare that she could easily have purchased for $1,000 in the resale market. Fortunately for that person, she found a source of good information from people who weren't trying to get into her wallet.

But I've seen SO many examples of people who bought directly from the developer and then discovered resale. Resale is NOT the answer to everyone's buying decision in DVC, but you at least need to educate yourself to ALL of the available options before you make any decisions.