Add-on Question (long)

[Disney Enthusiast]

I need advice from my neighbors.

My husband and I bought 200 pts in Oct for SSR. I barely talked him into it and so I was lucky to get the 200 pts seeing as he would have been happy to get 150 only.

Well, we were at a family Holiday party this past weekend talking w/ our family (who are DVC members at BWV) and they may have talked my husband into adding on another 100 pts. I want to do something quickly while this thought is in his head.

This is my dilemma. I am sure I lost the $10 back a point but I hear it is now at $5 back a point which at least is something. I want to know your opinions on whether you think we should buy 100 pts at SSR (where we own now) so everything is at one resort which will be easier when booking reservations, or whether we should buy at another DVC resort to give us the chance of staying there as well?

I am sure I will be happy staying at SSR, but do I love ALL the resorts and would enjoy staying at the others once in a while. I guess there is no minimum purchase of points where you can stay at either of the 2 resorts and can use all your points for both resorts at the 11th mo. window is there?

I figured my worst case scenarios would be these: If I bought all at SSR, I could try to get into another resort of my choice at the 7 mo. by canceling my reservation at SSR and booking another at VWL or elsewhere if available. The problem....... I may not be able to do so , thus I would always be staying at SSR once more and more members join and it becomes more difficult to get into the smaller locations esp. during the busier times of year (I usually go the first 2 wks in Dec).

If I bought the add-on at another resort, let's say BCV, then I would have to make a reservation for the 200 pts at SSR, and the 100 pts at BCV, then at 7 mos. check on availability at both, and try to combine my points by cancelling both reservations and booking another for 300 pts. Worst case scenario in this situation would be no availablities and I would have to keep my separate ressies at the separate resorts and move from my one resort to the other resort part way into my vacation. Which might be fun, but might also be a pain.

If you can think of any other pros and cons.... please let me know. And if you have any opinions as to these scenarios, I'd LOVE to hear about them so I can make a more informed decision. My hope is that you'll tell me if I buy 150 pts I can combine my points and use the whole lot for one resort at the 11th mo. window and I have that privilege at 2 resorts, but something tells me you won't. So I am looking forward to hearing what you folks would do if in my situation. I will thank you all ahead of time for your trouble and time. Sincerely, Brigitte

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

My hope is that you'll tell me if I buy 150 pts I can combine my points and use the whole lot for one resort at the 11th mo. window and I have that privilege at 2 resorts, but something tells me you won't.

You're right. I won't tell you that but I will tell you....

Our family owns at three of the resorts because we love the variety and the ability to book at 11 months.

If another resort interests you, why not buy the 100 points but only plan on staying there every other year. That way you could always bank the 100 points in the year you don't use them and have 200 points to use in the year of your trip. If you wanted to stay once every three years you could have 300 points available. A lot of people do it this way and are very happy with the process.

Then in the in between years you could go back and stay at SSR.

HBC

 

[ArnyVee]

Personally, I know the feeling of having to take advantage of a situation like a spouse being 'okay' with picking up extra points. I would go about it by hitting some of the resale websites as soon as possible and trying to pick up a smaller resale (heck maybe with some banked points to boot!) and getting the process started.

If you are really to the point where you might lose the chance of your spouse being 'okay' with it, then I would call Disney as soon as possible and get the extra 100 add-on at SSR. Actually, you could call Disney and they might have other resorts available as well. Some use years are available at different times through Disney directly even if they don't advertise it.

Good luck whichever way you choose to go!

 

[LIFERBABE]

I own at 3 DVC's. I have reservations booked for 2 trips. It was very easy and MS was able to see all 3 contracts at the time of booking.
I purchased through Disney so I have the same UY.

I like that all my points aren't tied up into one ressie. You can bank and borrow for one ressie and still have another contract's points open for future trips. I already have BCV booked for June 2004 which used up my banked and 04 BCV points.

Then they announced the MH and instead of me having to borrow BCV, I used my SSR points for that. I like that I had the option of staying somewhere for less points although there was still limited availability.

I would do the math and total your dream trip to SSR based on # of days, season and unit size. If you can achieve that with the current # of points you own there through banking and borrowing, then I would consider adding on at another favorite resort that would make you just as happy.

I've read the first 2 weeks of Dec. is primetime for DVC, so owning another resort would allow you to book there at 11 mos. as opposed to booking SSR and then switching at the 7 mos. window in which the waitlist may kick in.

 

[Disney Enthusiast]

Wow! You all have been very helpful and I REALLY appreciate you taking the time to help me w/ my dilemma.

Dear Happy Birthday Cat: I never thought of that. My husband LOVED the idea of going to the other resort every 3rd year and borrowing and banking to get 300 pts. Fabulous idea and I think that alone sold him on getting the extra points. Thank you!!

Dear Arny Vee: Thanks for responding and I will take your advice and call my rep tomorrow to see what is available. I will also check w/ DVC resales to see if there is anything that suits us there. It's nice to know I'm not the only one who needs to wait for the perfect opportunity w/ my spouse, then jump when he's ready. But what can we do? At least they eventually go along w/ us, right?! They just like to make us work at it.

Dear Liferbabe: You have so much vigor for the DVC that I got excited just reading your post. I am relieved to know that the different contracts can be coordinated in ways to make dream vacations and that separate contracts do not have to be pure stress and chaos. I will take your advice and appreciate your pointers on making this work.

Thank you all so much. I'll let you know what we do.

Sincerely, Brigitte

 

[Disney Enthusiast]

Well, I think it is official now. I am supposed to check into our options w/ our rep and the resales store. Just wanted the 3 of you to know that your suggestions really helped us to decide on what to do. I felt relieved that others like Liferbabe are able to coordinate different contracts w/ very little hassle.

Happy Birthday Cat: Again, I never even thought to do what you suggested and it is what will work best for us. I kept thinking of them as separate contracts and trying to utilize them both each year fearful that I would have to switch rooms or try to go on another vacation which is practically impossible for us. I have to remember we will have 300 pts to utilize each year (or more if we need them), and w/ the flexibility of banking and borrowing, we can use all 300 pts at one resort. Duhhh! Why didn't I think of that? We thought we could still do our dream vacation of 300 pts as Arnyvee suggested by using our 200 SSR pts and borrowing another 100 SSR points from 2005. Then banking the remaining 100 pts of 2005 w/ SSR into 2006, hence totalling 300 pts again in 2006. Then in 2005 we can use banked points from our add-on resort, 2005's pts and borrowed points from 2006, totaling 300 pts. We go to the add-on resort every 3rd yr. It is perfect for us! Thank you so much for bringing that to my attention as an option. It honestly never crossed my mind and yet it seems so simple to me now. And a perfect plan for my family.

Now..... where to add-on?

 

[LIFERBABE]

You are most welcome!!

Don't feel bad, as I had the same questions when considering my various contracts and everyone was so helpful! Too helpful X 3!

Enjoy!