Advice/Tips for newcomer

[4Kings07]

We just passed rofr yesterday so hopefully we will become owners very soon! We currently own a Bluegreen timeshare as well. I've read through several posts here on the boards while waiting to see if we would pass rofr and have learned quite a bit. In general the more you know the better you can enjoy DVC. So any tips or advice on how to get the most out of our DVC purchase would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[disneynutz]

Select the best UY for your vacation patterns.
Buy where you love to stay.
Book at 11 months.
Buy resale if you can.
If you buy additional contracts, keep the same UY and names on deeds.
If you intend to buy a small direct contract for the perks, buy now before the minimum increases.
DVD/DVC marketing can change the perks at any time.
Perks and policies tend to change when management changes.
Expect to spend more on Disney vacations after you buy DVC.

Points need to be banked during the first 8 months of your UY. Points need to be available during the dates of your stay, not when you make the reservation. Banking moves points one UY forward, borrowing moves points one UY back. Banking and borrowing are final transactions and can not be reversed.

Bill

 

[skippytx]

There so much to learn, I've been reading this forum and the other big DVC owners board for around a year or so and still learn new things all the time. It's hard to cover everything in one post.

I'd say the most important things to understand regarding DVC is the different timelines associated with your points. Firm understanding of use year, banking deadlines, home resort priority, things like that.

 

[Westy239]

Select the best UY for your vacation patterns.
Buy where you love to stay.
Book at 11 months.
Buy resale if you can.
If you buy additional contracts, keep the same UY and names on deeds.
If you intend to buy a small direct contract for the perks, buy now before the minimum increases.
DVD/DVC marketing can change the perks at any time.
Perks and policies tend to change when management changes.
Expect to spend more on Disney vacations after you buy DVC.

Points need to be banked during the first 8 months of your UY. Points need to be available during the dates of your stay, not when you make the reservation. Banking moves points one UY forward, borrowing moves points one UY back. Banking and borrowing are final transactions and can not be reversed.

Bill

I have been following these boards for a couple of years before buying our first contract. This is the most concise and understandable synopsis I have seen! Its not rocket science but all the elements can become very confusing. This sums it up perfectly

 

[kboo]

Select the best UY for your vacation patterns.
Buy where you love to stay.
Book at 11 months.
Buy resale if you can.
If you buy additional contracts, keep the same UY and names on deeds.
If you intend to buy a small direct contract for the perks, buy now before the minimum increases.
DVD/DVC marketing can change the perks at any time.
Perks and policies tend to change when management changes.
Expect to spend more on Disney vacations after you buy DVC.

Points need to be banked during the first 8 months of your UY. Points need to be available during the dates of your stay, not when you make the reservation. Banking moves points one UY forward, borrowing moves points one UY back. Banking and borrowing are final transactions and can not be reversed.

Bill

This is perfect. I just sent this to a friend who is considering DVC. Will also send her all the sticky links, of course. But this is probably all it boils down to.

 

[crisi]

Make reservations at your home resort during your priority window. If you want to switch, prioritize which resorts you'd like to switch to - so if #1 is BLT and it isn't available, you can move right on to #2 without having to get the whole family involved or having to make a snap decision.

If you are staying in a room with a kitchen, be realistic in your willingness to cook on vacation. We have discovered breakfast is fine - and we will end up with far too much snack food if given free rein.

Similarly, laundry - we've discovered that for us, its easy to throw in a load every day - but to do so we bring clothes that won't bleed and can all go in a single load - darks, lights - so no new reds go to Disney .

If you have that kitchen, water bottles freeze overnight and make August nearly pleasant when wrapped in a towel for the day and thrown into a backpack.

 

[DisneyRegulars]

The easiest way to get into a perpetual state of borrowing is to buy annual passes. Be warned!!

 

[w84no1]

I am a Bluegreen owner also. DVC is a lot lot less restrictive than Bluegreen. You don't have to pay to bank your points or pay the next years MF to borrow your points, like you do with Bluegreen.

I will be using my Bluegreen points to stay 2 nights at the Fountains before spending the next 8 nights at BWV.

 

[diser_fam]

Select the best UY for your vacation patterns.
Buy where you love to stay.
Book at 11 months.
Buy resale if you can.
If you buy additional contracts, keep the same UY and names on deeds.
If you intend to buy a small direct contract for the perks, buy now before the minimum increases.
DVD/DVC marketing can change the perks at any time.
Perks and policies tend to change when management changes.
Expect to spend more on Disney vacations after you buy DVC.

Points need to be banked during the first 8 months of your UY. Points need to be available during the dates of your stay, not when you make the reservation. Banking moves points one UY forward, borrowing moves points one UY back. Banking and borrowing are final transactions and can not be reversed.

Bill

Bill - As others have said, this is a great summary.

Do you mind elaborating a little on the last point - "Expect to spend more on Disney vacations after you buy DVC"? Not questioning it at all, just looking for some more detail. Thanks so much!

 

[Tauwillow]

We go to Disney with a three year gap between trips, via banking and borrowing. We then get an annual pass and book two trips, 11 months apart. We found this is the most economical use of our Disney dollars, especially when you take into account the AP perks that are often included. (we're loving the free photopass privilege this time around)

We drive to Disney (16 hours), so we precook meals, freeze them and transport them in coolers. Lots of yummy stews, marinated chicken for grilling, and such. We hit the parks at rope drop, return to the villa around 4pm and heat up dinner, then we head to the pool before bed. Its a perfect day for us, and we love saving money on restaurants.

 

[aokeefe]

I've seen many references to "you will spend more on Disney vacations once you buy DVC". My thoughts are- you will go more so you will be spending more on tickets, restaurants, souvenirs, plane tickets (if that applies)

 

[4Kings07]

Select the best UY for your vacation patterns.
Buy where you love to stay.
Book at 11 months.
Buy resale if you can.
If you buy additional contracts, keep the same UY and names on deeds.
If you intend to buy a small direct contract for the perks, buy now before the minimum increases.
DVD/DVC marketing can change the perks at any time.
Perks and policies tend to change when management changes.
Expect to spend more on Disney vacations after you buy DVC.

Points need to be banked during the first 8 months of your UY. Points need to be available during the dates of your stay, not when you make the reservation. Banking moves points one UY forward, borrowing moves points one UY back. Banking and borrowing are final transactions and can not be reversed.

Bill

Thanks so much Bill for the helpful info!

 

[4Kings07]

The easiest way to get into a perpetual state of borrowing is to buy annual passes. Be warned!!

We bought annual passes in January after our 3rd trip this year in June we decided it was time to become DVC members!

 

[4Kings07]

I am a Bluegreen owner also. DVC is a lot lot less restrictive than Bluegreen. You don't have to pay to bank your points or pay the next years MF to borrow your points, like you do with Bluegreen.

I will be using my Bluegreen points to stay 2 nights at the Fountains before spending the next 8 nights at BWV.

That's awesome! For the last several years we have exchanged points in rci to stay at disney. We have a 5 night stay booked at the Fountains in December this year. Trying to get the most out of our annual passes

 

[MrInfinity]

"Expect to spend more on Disney vacations after you buy DVC"? Not questioning it at all, just looking for some more detail.

I agree that once you commit to buy in to DVC, you will probably spend more money vacationing in Disney World over the course of your life. Buying in will encourage you to upgrade to Annual Passes. Annual passes and pre-paid hotel rooms will encourage you to take that extra trip. Even though DVC rooms cost about the same as a Deluxe Room, one might tend to think of the rooms in terms of points instead of dollars... and one pays for their points separately (years in advance, plus every Jan) from the act of booking a trip. This applies for flights and other hotels too. If we can get the flight on points, the hotel on points and have an annual pass, then why not take an extra trip? It's only the cost of food! We understand the real costs, but we've already planned for and paid those. There's also the phenomenon that once someone reaches a point in life where s/he can budget money for DVC -- in whatever level you buy in -- you are in that incrementally better financial position to be taking more vacations -- and therefore you do. DVC will also tend to keep you going back when you might otherwise take a break from Disney, say after your kids move out. The 7-11 mo booking window encourages you to plan even further ahead for your trips, which get you thinking about the money aspect earlier and saving earlier. And then last, when you are taking a vacation without the need to pay for the tickets or the room (right now), plus being tempted with a discount, it will free up your immediate budget to do that extra meal out, that extra adventure, etc. For some, all, or none of those reasons, you can probably expect to spend considerably more money vacationing in Disney World over the rest of your life than had you not bought in. You'll also have more vacations and options.

 

[crisi]

The spending more thing - many of us discover that we will treat friends and family to trips using points - where we pay for the room. I think this is where a lot of us end up spending more.

You may discover that with no hotel room bill, your spending on incidentals goes up - we spend a lot more on dinner than we would without a big hotel bill.

You may discover that with more frequent Disney trips, you find yourself booking experiences you might not if you were commando on parks - ticketed events, Cirque, fireworks cruises.

You may find yourself sneaking in an extra trip for some special event ("I have never done the Halloween Party, we might as well...." - and if you have APs, maybe there isn't any more expense.....unless you count the airfare .

 

[disneynutz]

Bill - As others have said, this is a great summary.

Do you mind elaborating a little on the last point - "Expect to spend more on Disney vacations after you buy DVC"? Not questioning it at all, just looking for some more detail. Thanks so much!

The other posts here have pretty much covered it. Disney is great at removing money from your mind which causes you to spend more. You can buy an admission ticket and count the days that you have available or buy an AP even though you may not need an annual pass. It doesn't cost you more to increase your vacation by a couple of days or you decide to take a 2nd Disney vacation because you have an AP and want to get your moneys worth. You aren't spending cash for the DVC stay, it's only points so you stay longer. Not enough points for that 2nd stay, buy another contract, you will be spending points, not cash.

Bill

 

[diser_fam]

aokeefe, MrInfinity, crisi, and disneynutz - Thanks for your responses to my question. Makes perfect sense and a great point that I'm sure many people (myself included) never think of.

 

[mustinjourney]

Bill - As others have said, this is a great summary.

Do you mind elaborating a little on the last point - "Expect to spend more on Disney vacations after you buy DVC"? Not questioning it at all, just looking for some more detail. Thanks so much!

I'm not Bill -- but I'll attempt to answer for him, since I am an extreme example of what he is talking about.

My original plan was to go to Disney once every 3 or 4 years -- anything more than that (I reasoned), was wasteful and the kids wouldn't appreciate it. We went on a cash reservation in February 2016 and had a blast (DD2, DD<1). I got hooked and decided to look into DVC.

I convinced DW that instead of every 3 or 4 years, with DVC, we could go at half price and therefore go every 2-3 years. (more often means more travel and food costs)

I figured 150 points would get us a studio for a week every year -- so that's what I focused on.

We then got a contract accepted, and it came with a lot of extra points. Then I was like, "hey -- we can afford these 2 BR units if we bank/borrow, let's bring each set of GPs on a trip so we can all enjoy it together!" (more money)

Then I figured that if we were going to do the GP trips, we should do both trips in a 12 month span so that we could get APs and save on tickets (more money)

But then I had to buy more points...so a month after going into ROFR on contract #1, I had a second resale contract being sent to ROFR. (More money)

Then we bought a direct add-on of 25 points to get member benefits and discounted APs (more money)

Then I figured we should get the TIW card since we're going to have two large groups going (more money -- direct price of $150 -- but you might end up spending more to "save" more)

Then we had some orphaned points that were going to expire, so we booked an impromptu F&W trip, so that was two flights, food-money and earlier start date to AP passes (more money). It also used up some of the other points I hadn't planned on using since I could only get 1 BR units with such short notice for F&W, which meant I had to buy some transferred points to make up the difference for our second grandparent trip (more money).

After buying the APs, I figured we might as well sneak in a couple more trips, since the entry is free. I'm doing a solo trip and then I'll be taking my oldest DD by ourselves to celebrate her 5th birthday (more flight/food/points costs)

So it can be a slippery slope.

In my case, our initial contract was around $22000 -- which is what my wife thought we would be spending. Fast forward 18 months, and we have spent about $45000 for 305 points. We've spent $1650 on 3 APs -- I have no idea how much our food/alcohol purchases have been -- but in the three trips we've already taken, I would assume it is at least $2000-$3000. Those princess character meals are pricey. I've transferred in around $3000 worth of additional points to cover some other trips we have planned. Flights have averaged out to about $300 a person (4 of us -- so $1200 a trip). I also have stocked up on 7 day park hopper passes from parksavers.com when they had a really good deal, so I think I have about $6000 worth of park tickets just chilling in my MDE. All in all, I have probably spent about $60-$65,000 on Disney related stuff -- and it all started out with the idea of saving about $2500 per trip on our hotel.

In short -- lodging is just one of the expenses of a Disney vacation. With DVC, you'll end up going more often, which leads to more points and travel related expenses.

 

[disneynutz]

A couple of years ago I took our 200 point BCV contract, cost of dues, travel, admission, food, extras, projecting on total cost until contract termination. $300,000 is what we will probably spend. Now add our BWV, AKV, BLT, VGF, and BRV contracts and we will need to sell the cow, house, car, maybe me, just so DW can keep doing Disney in the way that she has become accustomed.

Bill