Almost there but hedging now...help!

[IleneF]

I'm really about ready to sign on the dotted line but....
I looked at our last 6 trips to WDW and realized I make
most of my trips on spur of the moment and usually based
on cheap airfares being offered. Since I have no way to predict
airfares in advance I am now caught wondering if there
would be anything available if I called 2mos prior...and therefore
if it's worth the BC points (currently $80) to not know if I would
be able to stay there. We don't usually travel peak...historically we
travel in August and maybe in November or March. Our accomodations
have been cheap ones (ASMu for $60) thus making our trips VERY
economical. We only stayed once at BCV and only for a couple of days
as we really can't afford this. If I had to pay full airfares for 4 people
we couldn't afford to travel as often as we have in the past. Help...
all of a sudden it's not seeming to make sense afterall.

 

[dianeschlicht]

We usually get good airfares by being patient and checking sales weekly. We ALWAYS make our ressies at 11 months out, but rarely make our airline ressies until the last 2-3 months before the trip. We have never had any problems, and airfares from MN to FL are not ever great. I think the issue is the length of stay and the size of accommodations. I have never stayed at AS resorts, but I did stay at CBR once, and I thought the rooms were miniscule. This was BEFORE OKW too, so I would probably hate AS. I think the real issue is that we all tend to change our vacationing a few years after joining DVC. Before DVC, we used to travel to WDW every other year and stay for 5-6 days. After DVC, the first couple of years we went twice a year and stayed for a week each trip. Now we tend to go only once a year, but stay for 10-12 days. I like the longer less frequent trips best. I don't ever feel rushed, and I only have one set of airfares a year. Because of that, we are actually spending MUCH less per trip than ever before. Of course, I think we reached the break even point with DVC a couple of years ago, and we paid for the DVC in full without financing. If you are financing, it might be a different story.

 

[Richyams]

Two things

DVC works best for those able to plan ahead. The eleven month window is important, you should use it. Many do report success on short notice trips, you may have to take a different resort, but you will most likely be able to get something...unless we are talking the first two weeks of December, a standard view, or a Grand Villa anywhere.

Second, if you try to compare staying at an All Star with DVC on a cost basis, its going to be close. Your breakeven period will be long, very long, probably too long. Comparing DVC value with All Star value, only taking cost into consideration, the All Star is probably going to come out ahead, it will at least be close.

That is the beauty of DVC, All Star prices for DVC accomodations....to say nothing of the option of using larger units.

 

[IleneF]

Is there a penalty for canceling a reservation ( like say I decide I can't afford the airfare 2mos before ressie date)

 

[dianeschlicht]

No, your points go back into their use year unless you cancel less than 31 days before the ressie. If you cancel less than 31 days before the ressie, they go into a holding account.

 

[Lisa P.]

I am now caught wondering if there would be anything available if I called 2mos prior...and therefore if it's worth the BC points (currently $80) to not know if I would be able to stay there.
If you do not anticipate being able to plan more than 7 months ahead, it may not matter where you choose for your home resort. As long as you'd be happy with OKW, consider a well-priced resale and save on maint fees too.

...historically we travel in August and maybe in November or March.
If you mean early August, Thanksgiving and late March/Easter/spring break (when the kids are all out of school), it may be harder to consistently get your reservations at the last minute. If you mean late August, early November, early March, then you'll have a much easier time reserving.

Our accomodations have been cheap ones (ASMu for $60) thus making our trips VERY economical.... If I had to pay full airfares for 4 people we couldn't afford...
I'd caution you to look more carefully at your specific situation. We thought we would benefit from DVC and found that it was definitely not affordable enough for our family... and ending up selling it. If you buy at $80/pt and pay BCV maint fees, and if you plan to use the points during higher seasons, it could cost you more to buy it than to keep seekind discounts. Be certain that it will really be manageable and a good choice for you. If you'll stress about reservations & airfares, or pay for DVC only to end up renting at the AS anyway, that's not the greatest situation! JMHO.

 

[yasuern]

Hi IleneF,
I used to live in Easton Ma and also in Norton,Ma. Okay back to the subject at hand - Remember after you buy at $80.00/pt the number of points it takes to stay in a certain size accomadation at a certain time of year will never change ie: a 1 bdrm at VWL during the last 2 weeks of August (sorry don't have BCV pt info), staying a sun-thur nights(5nights) would be 140pts - if you stayed sun- fri (6 nights) would be 196pts sun-sat (7 nights) would be 252pts, however from now until 2042 the points needed to stay will NEVER CHANGE - can you be positive that All Stars will never go up in the next 40yrs - I have stayed at the All Stars 3 times and it is just fine but the accommadations we had this past july at OKW were sooo wonderful and grand we are currently buying a resale to have some pts with the 11month window at OKW. Resales are a great deal - you can get OKW or BWV for about/average $62-68/pt. I would highly recommend the timeshare store for a resale. As for airfare I have always managed to find bargains out of Logan - just search Orbitz, trip.com, and expedia - you can sign up to be alerted when a sale is happening. So I say what I say to everyone - BUY!

 

[sgtpet]

Just don't join. Too much doubt coming from you.

 

[mrace]

We bought 150 points BCV in July, had no problems in using ALL of the points @ BCV for April & June 2003. Contacted our rep and added another 70 points for future use. If I don't use them, I will bank them for 2003 in January. We have been going to Disney for 23 years - about 4 times per year. Mostly calling 3 - 4 weeks in advance and getting reservations at the Dis Hotels. For our "longer" range planning we know where we want to stay and at what times of the year we want to be there. This is TRULY a great deal - if you are a devoted Dis fan like us.

Hope this helps

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[Lisa P.]

Remember... the number of points it takes to stay in a certain size accomadation at a certain time of year will never change ie: a 1 bdrm at VWL during the last 2 weeks of August (sorry don't have BCV pt info), staying a sun-thur nights(5nights) would be 140pts... until 2042 the points needed to stay will NEVER CHANGE

Sorry, yasuern, this is NOT TRUE. Disney reserves the right to restructure the DVC points charts and they have done so. They provide the assurance that the total number of points required to keep a certain villa size occupied for a full year will not change. However, the number of points required for a stay in August could rise substantially, while coming down correspondingly at another time of year. Or vice versa.

This reality frustrated those who expected to stretch their points during the lowest (Adventure) season when Disney increased that figure during a past restructuring at OKW. Just as Disney has changed the dates of Value season for their cash resorts over the years, the dates of your seasons are also subject to change.

Ultimately, this does not reduce the overall value of being a DVC member. But if you buy it, expecting a particular points requirement to remain constant until January 2042, that expectation may not be met. If you can accept that and be flexible, you may enjoy it more. They structure the charts to maximize occupancy and satisfy the greatest number of reservation requests, balancing higher and lower season demand. As the DVC member population changes and matures (along with economic and travel patterns), these DVC needs can change too.

 

[JudithM]

Lisa, you are correct that Disney can restructure the DVC point system. The total number stays the same, but changed can be made within the structure. It is my experience that DVC has only reallocated points at OKW once in the last nine years. Believe me, DVC usually hears about it at least once during the OKW annual meeting .

 

[Dean]

IleneF, I think you have gotten some good advice from both sides here. I too am not convinced that DVC is for you but it sounds like it could be. Since you quoted a family of 4, how old and what gender are the children. I would think that if the children are different gender, you will outgrow All Stars VERY quickly. If both the same and don't mind sleeping together, it will take longer but it will happen. Of course eventually you'll be looking at bringing the children's friends and making trips without one or both of the children.

Ultimately, if you're happy staying at AS or off site, DVC will never work from a financial standpoint. My view is that a DVC studio is about a break even with a yearly trip staying at the Moderates. Of course Air fare will play a role, especially for families. To me, the beauty was not that it saved us money, it was the fact it allowed us to consistently stay on property at a reasonable long term cost which I felt, and still do, was comparable to the moderates on special. The added flexibility of getting a full kitchen with a larger unit for the family or a studio for short trips with only 2 of us, really was the clincher.

It sounds like you are going consistently and staying on property, this would make you an excellent DVC candidate. I would agree with Lisa that the cost is substantial and there are other options. While the points could change, the changes are controlled and would benefit some while affecting others adversely. I think it reasonable to look at DVC from a value standpoint thinking the points will not change, I just would not buy EXACTLY the number of points for a certain stay. I'd buy a small buffer, how much depends on travel habits and room size comparisons. Anyone buying exactly the number of points for a low season (adventure or dream) Sunday to Friday is nuts. One buying enough for a full week in a 2 BR high season (Magic or Premier) is less likely to be affected adversely by any changes.

If you buy DVC, you will need to change your travel habits. You'll need to make reservations then look for travel deals. You can always cancel. That makes your use year more important the most and I'd think August would be Important to you. I'd also agree that I'd be concerned about your reported travel times since a portion of each of the months you state is actually mid or high season. So if you're looking at Thanksgiving, Spring Break and August out of school, you may be out of luck with short notice trips. Of course if you change how you plan as noted, your options are better. One other thing about your noted bothered me, that is I got a feeling that maybe you were coming for long weekends. If this is the case, DVC WILL NOT WORK FOR YOU.

I'd second Lisa's recommendation about OKW resale as it sounds unlikely you'll plan more than 7 months out. Good luck.

 

[IleneF]

We don't travel peak season, actually we tend to go value season so it
would be early November, early March and late August. However, it has
been for long weekends like Fri thru Monday. I know I would have to change
that. My "children" are 15 and 19. We have been coming this last year with
dd and her friend. Ds has stayed home due to college etc. except for our most recent July trip that he flew with us but stayed separately at CBR with his girlfriend. I would be willing if we couldn't arrange to do Sun thru Thur travel to pay for AS first two nights and have hotels transfer luggage to new location for DVC for rest of stay. Kinda sounds fun to me to stay at more than
one hotel. We do stay at moderates or above but intersperse them with stays at AS to cost average them, LOL. I do think we can make DVC work for us. I'm kinda looking at it like this: I generally spend 13, 000 on a used car that lasts us about 3 years (we put on tons of mileage). Well for the same investment I have paid vacations for the next 40 yrs! I don't know if that makes sense but.... Also buy renting my points, if I'm not able to go at a particular time, I can just make back the dues part true? Can't I actually make money on this deal (not considering initial investment or maybe that too) if I continue to travel to AS and rent my points instead of using them? Thanks for all your help.

 

[chris1gill]

Your last post here sounds more in line with the way a DVC owner looks at DVC... If you are only looking to book 4 nights, I think you have a great chance at getting them, I think there's more of a problem when you're trying to get a full week or 5 nights... using the waitlist can work to your advantage as well... you might not get to stay at your first choice of accomodation, but you'll usually get one of the other resorts instead.

Basically, we multiply the point requirement times 5.25 to see what our actual $$ cost is... we figure our actual point cost to be our (buy in cost/# of years til 2042)+ yearly dues for one point, for us it roughly comes out to 5.25... we staggered our purchase into three contracts over three years & we paid cash, so we had no interest cost & I don't count lost investment on the $$ because we would have spent the $$ already on accomodations... So, if a studio is 20 points for one night, our actual cost would be about $120.00... Now, remember this is no All Stars & I don't think it's fair to make that comparison at all... This will be more expensive than your All Stars or your moderates, at least on the weekends... weekdays can be had for as little as 9 points...

As for renting, we use our points, so I can't comment on that...

 

[crisi]

Remember that if you are very cost concerned - and try to do Sun - Thurs stays to save on points, you are going to be paying Sun - Thurs airfare. Most airfare is cheaper when you do a Saturday stay (in a lot of cities there are three and four day charter flights to and from Orlando where this becomes less of an issue).

To compensate, many people fly in on Saturday, then spend Saturday night in a cheap hotel near Disney, and check into their DVC room on Sunday - streatch both their points and their airfare dollars.

But, being a pretty financial conservative person - I always figure that if you have doubts about being able to afford something, you probably can't. Unlike most people who regret not buying sooner, I am very glad we waited to purchase until the annual dues became no big deal and could pay cash. Of course, back when the annual dues would have been a big deal - being a fiscally conservative person - we weren't taking Disney vacations either.

 

[PamOKW]

Can't I actually make money on this deal (not considering initial investment or maybe that too) if I continue to travel to AS and rent my points instead of using them?

I would strongly caution you from buying DVC as a way to finance trips to the All-Star. Every piece of information from DVC will tell you this is not an investment vehicle.

You have a good thought process looking at this more as buying a car. If it's something you like, can see yourself using and can afford then go ahead and take the jump. Since your children are teenagers, I would consider how much you and/or your husband enjoy WDW. Will the two of you continue to enjoy trips to WDW as your solo vacations? Will you enjoy the luxury of a DVC resort more than the savings of an All-Star once you are on your own?