Advice please

[Duck1]

Good day all. After several years of Disney vacations, I have finally decided to purchase dvc. I have a few questions for the experts. Our resort of choice is the gf. based on my review of the various posts it appears that my best bet is to have this as my home resort. I'm open to trying other resorts from time to time but I would say that at least 75% of the time I would want to stay at gf. Based on that would it be foolish for me to consider buying points at another resort? I assume the answer is yes based on my research so far but there is obviously a lot of experienced and knowledgeable people on these boards and because it is a big investment I wanted to be certain. At this point we typically travel early to mid December and early February. That may change down the road as my kids get older. They are currently 10 and 12. I'm flexible with my vacations and we prefer taking the kids out of school to avoid travel during the Christmas and spring breaks. That will likely change as the kids get older but I don't see us travelling outside of the October to April period. The summer months are likely out. As a result, should I be looking for uy in September or October? I've decided resale is the best option. Is uy that important? In their words if I came across a listing at a decent price with the amount of points I need but the uy is not right do I try for that or is uy too important such that I should wait until I find one in the right uy range? My apologies for the long post and thanks in advance for your assistance!

 

[disneynutz]

Buy VGF, try for an Oct UY.

Bill

 

[miTnosnhoJ]

VGF is a great resort. You will want to own there, because December fills up right away at the 11 month mark for studios.
I have a December UY because we travel in December and March. In your case, October makes sense.

I can honestly say that we bought VGF, and have enjoyed it immensely. Absolutely no regrets. It is the best of the best (for me).

Let me add that if you like December, get enough points to stay in a 1BR or 2BR so you can still come when the studios are full.

UY is important if there is a chance you might have to cancel your vacation. You have more ways to recover if you cancel early in your use year than if you cancel late in your UY.

 

[mustinjourney]

For December, you'll need the 11 month advantage.

For February, not nearly as important.

You could do a hybrid approach of buying half points at VGF and half points at SSR. Use your VGF points for December travel (bank points) and use the SSR points during February trips.

Not sure if it would work for you, but it is something to consider.

 

[GrumpyInPhilly]

Good day all. After several years of Disney vacations, I have finally decided to purchase dvc. I have a few questions for the experts. Our resort of choice is the gf. based on my review of the various posts it appears that my best bet is to have this as my home resort. I'm open to trying other resorts from time to time but I would say that at least 75% of the time I would want to stay at gf. Based on that would it be foolish for me to consider buying points at another resort? I assume the answer is yes based on my research so far but there is obviously a lot of experienced and knowledgeable people on these boards and because it is a big investment I wanted to be certain. At this point we typically travel early to mid December and early February. That may change down the road as my kids get older. They are currently 10 and 12. I'm flexible with my vacations and we prefer taking the kids out of school to avoid travel during the Christmas and spring breaks. That will likely change as the kids get older but I don't see us travelling outside of the October to April period. The summer months are likely out. As a result, should I be looking for uy in September or October? I've decided resale is the best option. Is uy that important? In their words if I came across a listing at a decent price with the amount of points I need but the uy is not right do I try for that or is uy too important such that I should wait until I find one in the right uy range? My apologies for the long post and thanks in advance for your assistance!

*** Welcome to DISboards ***

 

[Duck1]

Thanks for the advice! If I purchase points at another resort for the February trip, what are the odds that I will get a studio at vgf at the 7th month mark? I wasn't planning on purchasing enough points to cover a 1br for two trips. Will I have difficulty getting a studio in December at the 11 month mark?

 

[mustinjourney]

Thanks for the advice! If I purchase points at another resort for the February trip, what are the odds that I will get a studio at vgf at the 7th month mark? I wasn't planning on purchasing enough points to cover a 1br for two trips. Will I have difficulty getting a studio in December at the 11 month mark?

See this link.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/p...-some-1-bedrooms-vgc-update-10-21-15.3419112/

Studios go very fast.

 

[mustinjourney]

If you're good with a split stay, you'll have more options.

 

[bumbershoot]

I was ready to sell our bay lake points and gen we happened upon a studio at GF 12/24-26 and I fell in LOVE.

We stayed there one night with me and DH, my aunt on the sofabed, and my 12 year old on the murphy bed, and it was pretty close quarters. Maybe if it had been another kid vs my aunt it would have felt different. But if I had two kids I'd go for the points for a one bedroom.

 

[Duck1]

Thanks for the tips! I read the suggested link and now I'm concerned about getting my December dates. I may have to rethink this. As I understand it, one can book their dates online at 8am and by phone at 9am. Is that accurate? If that is the case I assume the best bet is to be ready online right at 8am. In reviewing the link it appears that the really high demand dates in December are the first 2 weeks and over the Christmas week. Does that mean that the 3rd week in December is slightly better; say the 14th to the 21st give or take?

 

[miTnosnhoJ]

Thanks for the tips! I read the suggested link and now I'm concerned about getting my December dates. I may have to rethink this. As I understand it, one can book their dates online at 8am and by phone at 9am. Is that accurate? If that is the case I assume the best bet is to be ready online right at 8am. In reviewing the link it appears that the really high demand dates in December are the first 2 weeks and over the Christmas week. Does that mean that the 3rd week in December is slightly better; say the 14th to the 21st give or take?

The third week is better, but the point cost is higher then as well.

 

[Popouri DVC]

I have to echo others here and suggest you absolutely buy VGF. I was fortunate enough to be able to buy DVC when the resort they were selling direct was VGF. At that time I had no idea about resale, but have since added on twice via resale. We absolutely love our DVC and I never seem to have enough points to go as often as we would like.

Absolutely buy VGF and buy more points than you think you'll need. You can always bank them... although I never have done so. Always seem to be borrowing.

I also agree that an October use year should work best for you.

Good luck and

Home!!

 

[Dean]

Good day all. After several years of Disney vacations, I have finally decided to purchase dvc. I have a few questions for the experts. Our resort of choice is the gf. based on my review of the various posts it appears that my best bet is to have this as my home resort. I'm open to trying other resorts from time to time but I would say that at least 75% of the time I would want to stay at gf. Based on that would it be foolish for me to consider buying points at another resort? I assume the answer is yes based on my research so far but there is obviously a lot of experienced and knowledgeable people on these boards and because it is a big investment I wanted to be certain. At this point we typically travel early to mid December and early February. That may change down the road as my kids get older. They are currently 10 and 12. I'm flexible with my vacations and we prefer taking the kids out of school to avoid travel during the Christmas and spring breaks. That will likely change as the kids get older but I don't see us travelling outside of the October to April period. The summer months are likely out. As a result, should I be looking for uy in September or October? I've decided resale is the best option. Is uy that important? In their words if I came across a listing at a decent price with the amount of points I need but the uy is not right do I try for that or is uy too important such that I should wait until I find one in the right uy range? My apologies for the long post and thanks in advance for your assistance!

It wound be a good if you like VGF best but it will cost more than you could get other places. UY is important for many and where it's not, those people are taking more risk if they have to change or cancel.

Edited, it looks like auto spell check got me.

 

[Duck1]

Thank you everyone! Very much appreciated! I'm still a bit concerned about getting a studio in December so I may need to consider purchasing enough points for a 1br. But that may necessitate coming up with a plan b for a potential 2nd trip in February unless I happen to luck out and get a studio for our December trip. I'm typically flexible in December and could go anywhere from the 1st to a few days before Christmas. I don't know if that improves my odds at all. If I do get a resale and I want to purchase additional points direct do I simply tell Disney that I want x points at x uy and wait for them to become available? I know it's difficult to buy points for vgf direct. How exactly does that work ? Thanks!!

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Thank you everyone! Very much appreciated! I'm still a bit concerned about getting a studio in December so I may need to consider purchasing enough points for a 1br. But that may necessitate coming up with a plan b for a potential 2nd trip in February unless I happen to luck out and get a studio for our December trip. I'm typically flexible in December and could go anywhere from the 1st to a few days before Christmas. I don't know if that improves my odds at all. If I do get a resale and I want to purchase additional points direct do I simply tell Disney that I want x points at x uy and wait for them to become available? I know it's difficult to buy points for vgf direct. How exactly does that work ? Thanks!!

I think getting a studio in December at VGF is a valid concern to have. Buying a small contract to stay a few nights in a studio in Dec at VGF had to be one of the most posted reasons for buying VGF when DVC was selling it. Feb should be just fine at 11 months though. I've been lucky to do ok with December and am also flexible which helps but had to get it thru a waitlist for this upcoming Dec. It wasn't going to ruin my vacation though if I had to stay at another home resort. If later in the month is consistently a good option then it may still work out ok but I could not comfortably state that getting a studio at VGF in early December will be easy. However, it's also true that someone will get them so it might be you. But what if you don't - will another resort be acceptable?

 

[ELMC]

Thank you everyone! Very much appreciated! I'm still a bit concerned about getting a studio in December so I may need to consider purchasing enough points for a 1br. But that may necessitate coming up with a plan b for a potential 2nd trip in February unless I happen to luck out and get a studio for our December trip. I'm typically flexible in December and could go anywhere from the 1st to a few days before Christmas. I don't know if that improves my odds at all. If I do get a resale and I want to purchase additional points direct do I simply tell Disney that I want x points at x uy and wait for them to become available? I know it's difficult to buy points for vgf direct. How exactly does that work ? Thanks!!

While I understand that you are concerned about your upcoming trip, don't forget that DVC is a 40+ year commitment and that is what you should be considering when looking at contract size, etc. Also keep in mind that you can rent points now for your December trip and then rent out your first year's worth of points when you finally get that contract you're looking for. It will probably only cost you $1-2 a point, which is not that big of an expense when you consider that you can get the contract you want AND the vacation you want.

With regards to your question about the direct add on, you got it exactly right. Once you have secured your VGF resale contract, you can then add on the exact number of points you want with the same UY. You'll probably be put on a waiting list, but remember that even if you're waiting for 6 months that still leaves you 40+ years to use the points. Good luck with the process!

 

[Duck1]

Thanks for the advice. You make excellent points about it being a long term commitment and perhaps I am being too short sighted. I don't quite follow you about renting for $1-2 a point. Can you please explain that? Thanks

 

[Duck1]

To KAT4DISNEY. That's a good question. My family won't care where we stay. They are more flexible and adventurous than I am! I'm a creature of habit and not fond of change. I really enjoy gf. We used to consistently stay at por and I enjoyed that resort but I always wanted to stay at the gf. Once finances permitted we splurged and I just loved it there and we haven't stayed anywhere else since. I do want to try other resorts but I think I would be a bit disappointed if I couldn't get gf at least 75% of the time. I'll have to give this more serious thought....