All set to purchase, but have decision to make

[disneymania10]

We are all set to purchase into AKV this week
We planned on taking the double developer point, but I just read that they only have a 7 month booking window. I was unaware of that.
I am concerned a bit that we travel in July.
We were thinking that we would stay in a one bedroom for about 12 nights in July. We would use our points plus the Developer points. I would now have to book a vacation using our purchased points, then in Dec. call to try to get what we want. Do you think it will be possible to get that reservation at the 7 month mark? If we cant we will have a whole bunch of wasted points. We would like to stay at our home resort, but the BCV or BWV would also be wonderful (probably harder to get though).
So I am thinking maybe it might be better for us to just take the discount and book at 11 months with the peace of mind that out first DVC reservation is made smoothly with no worries.

Any thoughts about the 7 month booking from all you more expirienced DVC'ers would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Bob

 

[zalansky]

I am not very experienced but here is what I would do. (I don't know how many points you plan on buying, keeping that in mind) We added on at AKV and took the developer points. The discount at AKV was $8 per point. The points are worth far more than than $8 per point. On 100 points, we would have only saved $800. My thoughts are even if you could only get SSR at the 7 month window, it is still a wonderful resort and again a better value (to me) than taking the discount. Though I prefer certain resorts, I also would never be unhappy to have to stay at SSR.

Welcome home, almost! You'll love DVC.

 

[global_mom]

You now have 12 months to use the developer points instead of only 7 months. That changed a couple of weeks ago. Do verify that they did not change it back to 7 months but it was still 12 months when we spoke to our guide a couple of days ago. The developer points may work for you since you would easily be able to fit next July into that time frame.

Good luck with your purchase!!

 

[disneymania10]

Thanks for the advice zalansky. I was hoping to put my deposit down tomorrow, but we will have to talk about how flexible we are with the resorts for next year first. The developer points are a excellent deal that I would hate to pass up on. As you I am happy at most disney resorts. I was really hoping to stay at out HOME for our first trip as DVC members. AKl is our favorite resort.

We are purchasing 165 points. That will give us a savana view studio for 9 nights in July. It is just myself, wife and our daughter.

Thanks again,

 

[disneymania10]

Thanks Global_mom.
Our guide told us 12 months as well when we spoke to her on sunday.
My consern is not being able to get a ressie at the 7 month window.
We now just need to decide if we will be happy not staying at our home resort if there is nothing available there at the 7 month mark.
I know it may seem silly no consider passing the points up, but we really wanted to stay at the AKL next year.
I just learned that the developer points had the 7 month booking. It kinda threw me off my plan a bit.

 

[global_mom]

My consern is not being able to get a ressie at the 7 month window.
We now just need to decide if we will be happy not staying at our home resort if there is nothing available there at the 7 month mark.

Gotcha! I need to read slower!! I agree with the previous poster that SSR would still be great. Have fun planning!

 

[zalansky]

Well, like everyone else who is buying in and getting developer points, we all have to wait until that 7 month window to book. Ask your guide how many rooms are projected to be completed by next July. Also, make sure you book right at that 7 month window and call first thing in the morning. You can always waitlist. Or split your stay between 2 resorts if they can't get you in at AKV the whole 9 days...even though that would be a pain to move. We've been very successful in getting what we want at the 7 month mark. You can't lose whatever you decide. Make sure they send you a DVC member canvas tote!!!

 

[TammyAlphabet]

Another strategy would be to book the weekday nights with regular points at the 11 month window and then book the weekend nights with the developer points at the seven month window. The weekend nights are much more likely to be available at seven months. Have MS link the reservations. Then, at seven months, if the AKL is available for the weekday nights that you want, cancel the AKL reservation using home resort points, and rebook with the developer points. Then bank the home resort points to use the next year.

I don't know if this will work with the points that you have or anything,but I have used this strategy because I have two contracts at different resorts and it has worked for me in the past.

 

[disneymania10]

After much thought I think we have decided what to do.
The developer points are definately a great deal, but for a family of 3 who travels only once a year its alot of points to eat up. We will bank our 2007 points, so that would give us 495 points that would have to use for our one vacation in 2008. So we decided to take the discount and use the discount money to buy more points. So instead of 165 pts. we are going to buy 180 pts. Those extra points will give us one more night per year. Over time that seems to make more sense to us than having the one killer vacation with the developer points. We will have to pay MF's on the extra points every year, but I can live with that.

So next time I speak with my guide I will give the deposit and we will be on our way

Thanks for all the help

 

[ScottakaMickey]

Congrats on your decision!!!

To me its one of the great things about DVC is that you have all kinds of options that ulimitately allow each individual to fit it into what works best for them. It just started even before you purchased and it will continue throughout the many years of future ownership.

 

[disneymania10]

We paid our deposit today
After many years of saying..."we really should join the DVC" we finally did it !!!

This forum has been a huge help. It really made our guides job easy.
Thanks again to all of you.

 

[GrumpyPop]

My understanding of the developer points was that you had to have made reservations with the points within 7 months of closing but that the date of the reservation could be a year out. That means if you purchased at AKV in July you still would be able to use the 11 month window with the developer points at your home resort and the only restriction was that you had to have made a reservation by March(if you purchased in July).

I know that sounds convoluted and may be incorrect but that's the way I understood the restrictions.

 

[Deb & Bill]

From other members, I have heard that you could only use the Developer Points for reservations 7 months out, even though they are at your new home resort. I think that's why they initially said you had to use them within 7 months.

 

[ScottakaMickey]

My understanding of the developer points was that you had to have made reservations with the points within 7 months of closing but that the date of the reservation could be a year out. That means if you purchased at AKV in July you still would be able to use the 11 month window with the developer points at your home resort and the only restriction was that you had to have made a reservation by March(if you purchased in July).

I know that sounds convoluted and may be incorrect but that's the way I understood the restrictions.

Here is the verbiage from the agreement.

"All reservations utilizing the Developer Points must be booked within the seven (7) month booking window and stays must be completed within twelve (12) monthos of the contract date."

So, to me that means I have a year to use them, I just can't book until its seven months or less from the reservation date.

 

[GrumpyPop]

Here is the verbiage from the agreement.

"All reservations utilizing the Developer Points must be booked within the seven (7) month booking window and stays must be completed within twelve (12) monthos of the contract date."

So, to me that means I have a year to use them, I just can't book until its seven months or less from the reservation date.

I stand corrected. Thanks for the information. I wonder if you can use the developer points outside the 7 month window at non-DVC resorts. We are trying to decide between a trip back to DW v. a trip to Belize at the Captian Morgan resort next summer.