Advice / Input on points

[DisneyDotts]

So I need some help/advice/input.....

Would it be better to buy enough points at SSR for a 1 bed, and take the chance at 7 months if I wanted to go to other resorts, or buy 100pts at SSR and 100pts at Poly and bank / borrow every year.

So for example. One year I want to stay at Poly so I use the 100pts from Poly and borrow the next years Poly points so I would essentially have 200pts for Poly in 1 year.

Then I would bank my SSR points for the next year so I would have 200pts for SSR the following year.

It's only my fiance and I that would travel to WDW, and possibly some friends every now and then but mostly just for us. We like the roominess of the 1 beds, but we really like Poly. I would like the advantage of the 11 month mark for Poly but I'm wondering if that's really beneficial since we can basically go anytime we want to. Honestly I wish Poly had a 1-bed, but since they don't I don't want to buy a whole bunch of points there. We like the closeness to Disney Springs too for SSR. I also feel like I'm missing something with my banking / borrowing strategy but for the life of me I can't put my figure on it.

Let me know if this at all makes sense, or anyone who has points at multiple places what's your take on points and how to use them?


Thanks!!

 

[Jason@dvcstore]

So I need some help/advice/input
We like the roominess of the 1 beds, but we really like Poly.

Thanks!!

Based on the fact you really like Poly I would recommend buying 100 at Poly and 100 at Saratoga. You will 200 points every other year for a Polynesian 7 to 11 month booking and the other years you will have 200 points for Saratoga you can try and use at the other DVC resorts under 7 months.

 

[Cyberc1978]

I can’t see when you plan to go, but if you aren’t going between late September and early January then you should be able to switch resort at 7 months. This at least goes for 1Br.

With my assumption above in mind I’d buy enough points for a 1Br.

If you do go between September and early January then you should buy 100 points at poly and ssr. Have in mind that the years you do use your ssr points you are most likely need to stay at ssr. All though you should have a some chance of switching at 7 months if you switch to a 1Br.

 

[DisneyDotts]

I can’t see when you plan to go, but if you aren’t going between late September and early January then you should be able to switch resort at 7 months. This at least goes for 1Br.

With my assumption above in mind I’d buy enough points for a 1Br.

If you do go between September and early January then you should buy 100 points at poly and ssr. Have in mind that the years you do use your ssr points you are most likely need to stay at ssr. All though you should have a some chance of switching at 7 months if you switch to a 1Br.

We usually go last of Aug or middle of Sept. We're going the 1st week of May this year to see how the crowds are. We, I guess try and go when crowds are low and kids are in school.

 

[Kerrijo]

Buy where you want to stay. Rooms at the Poly are becoming harder to come by now that the resort has sold out of its DVC points. If you think you'd like to stay there, buy there (we did!). In the event you aren't able to visit one year, it will be much easier to find someone who wants to trade or rent your Poly points than your SSR points. Having both gives you the ultimate flexibility for what you like

 

[disneynutz]

Only you know if you will be upset not getting to stay at resorts other that SSR. Disney set up the 11 month home resort rule for a reason, they knew that many would have to buy home resort contracts to get the resort reservation that they really want.

Bill

 

[hayesdvc]

We have gone to WDW for 30 years, but have been DVC members for only 5. Prior to DVC, we were very consistent in our travel pattern, however, DVC has allowed us to go more often and at different times. My family's initial thought after our first purchase was we need more points. IMO, from a number of points needed, after the initial "shock" of being able to go more, your need for points will level off some until something in your life changes (more kids, grand kids, kids leave home, etc). Listen to Bill (disneynutz) as I did when trying to make similar decisions. Sometimes there is a financial "trap" to save money by purchasing cheaper points including cheaper annual fees, then being disappointed when you can't book, for example, VGF the first part of December, during Food and Wine, or ............. anytime. My initial purchase was at SSR. We like SSR. It was even walking distance to "Downtown Disney". Now with Disney Springs being a "5th" park it is great, however, my family also decided they wanted to stay at the DVC locations where we had stayed "deluxe" for many years paying cash. Based on the 7 month availability (or sometimes quickly after the 11 month window opens), it did not take us very long to determine buy where you want to stay the majority of the time. Since our initial purchase, we have added additional contracts. For this same reason, I have even added points at HHI since we love going there annually in June or July. Good Luck and as many have said, there are truly no bad DVC resorts.

 

[LAX]

Ultimately, it really depends on how much you really want to stay at PVB since it's likely to get more difficult to book non-home resorts as DVC continues to expand. If you feel that you would be pleasantly surprised to stay at PVB on some occasions, but still be happy staying at SSR if you don't, then it doesn't make sense to shell out the extra money to buy at PVB, IMHO. However, if you get upset/unhappy staying at SSR on every trip, then it doesn't make sense to buy all of your points at SSR either. Another point to keep in mind is that if you plan to pay the premium for PVB, be sure you plan to use a majority of those points to stay there. Otherwise, you end up paying the extra money unnecessarily.

LAX

 

[pineapplepalms]

We went with the second option and prefer to have multiple home resorts - CCV and BWV because we want the home resort advantage and SSR because we also want to stay at all the resorts over time. As long as you would be happy staying at SSR for some of your trips, buying at both Poly and SSR could be a great approach. If you ended up adding on at SSR down the road, it could make it easier to switch at 7 months since there is typically more availability for 1BRs. We bought mostly for the larger villa options and love the 1BR size! It's perfect for our family right now with a toddler. Being able to stay in larger rooms for effectively around the same or less than what we've been paying for Deluxe resort rooms on cash was a big part of what sold us on DVC. If you can, getting the same UY for your contracts would make things easier if you decide you want to pool your points for some trips at 7 months (also just easier for keeping track of multiple contracts and banking deadlines).

 

[MrInfinity]

we really like Poly

I think there's your answer.
Buy 100 Poly now. Go, have fun. If you decide you want more add on later. Don't buy SSR if you like the Poly. Nothing against SSR but it's not going to give you the same feeling. I agree with you on owning some Poly but not a ton, so think about other resorts and maybe add on 100 elsewhere. Maybe CC, BLT, or see what happens in the future.

 

[pharm55]

We own at AUL (direct) and VGC (resale). We have never stayed at AUL (though intend to one day) and bought specifically at VGC in order to have home resort advantage there as it is easier and cheaper for us to get there than WDW. For our upcoming trip we are using all of our points for our trip to WDW and was able to get 3 reservations at 7 months out exactly but we are usually booking 2 bedroom units which are easier to come by than studios. And now at 6&1/2 months out 2 of the 3 reservations I booked are now unavailable except to be waitlisted for our dates. So I second those who say buy where you want to stay and regarding use years try to get the same use years for both contracts. Speaking from experience as we have two use years it is a PAIN and just makes planning more difficult as the points cannot be combined for a reservation without transferring between contracts which can only be done once per year and are one way transfers.

One benefit to have POLY over SSR that I can think of as well is the POLY points should be easier to rent if you needed/wanted to do that.

 

[DisneyDotts]

Hey Everyone,

Thanks for all of the input. It's been appreciated. I think we are leaning to buy Poly. SSR is in the back of my mind but still not 100% on SSR. Hopefully the prices don't go up too much by the end of the year. That's when we plan on purchasing. Wish us luck!!

 

[DisneyDotts]

So now I have another question. I think I'm rethinking now Poly since there are no 1 beds, and we really like 1 beds. I mean we like Poly for their options now but I guess I'm trying to think of long term. I can see us just wanting to hang out at the resort more, and 1 beds really give you that space. Poly is great if you want to stay at the park all day. At least it is for us. I just need space, or I like space rather. VGF is gorgeous. Is it worth it to get points there? I've read a few places that even owners have trouble at 11 months getting units. We can literally go there anytime. We generally like to go when the kids are I school so the parks aren't as busy. During that time would the studios be available. I guess beginning of May or last or Aug / start of Sept? I've been looking at resale points but I don't want to invest in that much money if as a owner I'm not going to get my choice of rooms. Thinking 100 / 150 points there, so we can bank / borrow to get a 1 bed or have enough for a studio in high season. Granted it would depend on the time of year. I guess I really like the better option of buying points at a place where they have studios and 1 beds. It's more room to grow. The other thing is I only wanted a cap of 200 points. It's only us, and for some reason my parents just will not accompany us to Disney. I've tried for years. They don't have the magic.

So recap: Sorry I digress -
Poly / SS 100 points each for bank / borrow options
Poly Pros: on monorail, great food, nice studios, 11 month priority. Con: no option to grow into a 1 bed.
SSR Pro: one bed accommodations, close to springs, if we want to resort hop we would have points to get into other resorts at 7 months. I know this isn't always guaranteed.

VGF - Gorgeous place, studio, 1 bed accommodations, still on monorail.
cons: I feel like I may not get my room choice as an owner ( read on other threads ) I have to purchase more points then my general wanting of only 100 points since the 1 beds come at a higher cost even during low season. There wouldn't be any point in getting SSR since I would need more points at VGF.

I think I may be overthinking everything. Thoughts please!! I think I'm drowning in questions.

 

[miTnosnhoJ]

We are at VGF and we love it. We have stayed in Studios, 1BR, and 2BR at VGF and it is a great experience.
If you need studios in early December, they are very difficult to get, but 1BR are gettable most times of year if you book at the 11 month mark. I do think that if you like VGF, it is wise to have points there, although there are times of year, mostly in the summer, when you can get in at 7 months.
The rooms are well designed. THe building is beautiful. And you have access to world class restaurants, a live orchestra in the main lobby, monorail and boat transportation to MK, good shopping, water craft for rent, and really excellent customer service from the cast members. The bellhops at the Grand Floridian are some of the best you will ever find. You can truly have a great vacation just hanging out at the resort.
We started with 250 points with the thought that we could spend a week in a 1BR or 2 weeks in a studio. Since then, with the addition of grandchildren, we have added more points so we can do a week in a studio and a week in a 2BR.

 

[miTnosnhoJ]

One more thing...See this thread to see availability at different times of the year for most DVC resorts. I believe that SkierPete is in the process of updating it, but it is still pretty accurate. If anything, studios may be slightly more difficult to get at busy times. It is a great resource - with many hours of work by SkierPete.
https://www.disboards.com/threads/p...tudios-some-1-bedrooms-prepared-2015.3419112/

 

[sndral]

My first DVC purchase was AKV resale a few years ago. I bought about 1/2 the points I thought I’d ultimately like to own and chose AKV because it was less expensive than everywhere else except SSR & OKW (I had no interest in staying at SSR and wasn’t interested in buying OKW) and I really enjoy staying at AKV. Using those AKV points I tried out a couple of other resorts I was interested in buying at - BWV and VGF. Even though I love the Epcot resorts’ location (YC was a favorite before we bought DVC) & BWV points were cheaper, I chose the VGF, because after staying at both BWV and VGF I liked VGF better & knew I’d feel like I’d settled for second best if I went with the cheaper BWV points. VGF is very small, I like to go in Dec. and stay in a 1 br., so to stay @ VGF when I travel to WDW I really needed to own there.
If you can find a loaded contract and use those points for a couple of years to see how DVC works & try out different locations before buying your second batch of points it might be worth doing. That way if you end up deciding to sell, at least you’ve cut your losses, and, if you’ve decided DVC works for you, then you’ll ‘know’ your favorites v. the resorts you aren’t thrilled to stay at and you’ll have experience with availability for when you travel and can buy the second set of points w/ more confidence.