Am I Making Sense????

[fauntleroy53]

Here's how I'm going about working towards a decision on buying into DVC..

DH & I are about 10 year members of RCI. We use our points every other year to have a family reunion in Hilton Head, because our children & grandchildren love it there.
Now I know RCI has sharing with OKW,SSR, AKV and BWV. BUT, it takes ALL our points,rolling over points included, to get the family together at HH,so using those points for WDW wouldn't work out for us. Not that the kiddos/grandkiddos wouldn't want to vacation at Disney,it's just not economically feasible to get EVERYONE together for a WDW vacation-HH is more affordable for the group(4 children & spouses and 10 grandkids).
BUT, DH & I are returning to WDW after a 13 year absence and are going all out. As Florida residents,we bought our discounted AP's and will be getting the TIW card. We will be in the F & W 5k in November(staying at CB,part of a package deal) & are booked at the WL in Feb. We plan on making AT LEAST 2 trips a year to WDW and are at that point in our lives that we don't feel the need to compromise on rooms,so it's Deluxe for us. We're Poly lovers,but are VERY excited about staying at WL in Feb. and have the feeling we will love it as much. SOOOOOO,

We don't need incentives,as we already are getting AP & food discounts.
We are RCI members,so if we want to go anywhere in the world,those would be the points we would use, not DVC points.
We have gone on 4 DCL cruises and we book our next cruise while on board,so we get a 10% discount and about $200 on board credit,so we'll always pay oop for DCL.
Since it appears our only interest for DVC would be just for DVC,would it make more sense for us to look towards re-sale than buying direct?
That's the big question. From what I've been reading, we may not need whatever "perks" come with buying direct,but I may be missing something & I'm hoping you all can let me know if I'm on the right track.
Our only interest in our home resort would be WL or the Poly,which leads me to my next question.
Are re-sale points and direct points absorbed together, with no distinction between them? If we buy a small amount of re-sale points,just to get our foot in the DVC door and later buy Poly direct points, do the resale points get absorbed into one point package,so the resale points really do end up getting all those direct sale perks anyway?????
Am I making sense?

 

[disneynutz]

Buying a DVC interest IMO is all about getting the best bang for your buck. Since buying resale is cheaper than buying direct, unless buying direct has another benefit that you really want, resale is the way to go.

If you are using the points for DVC stays buying resale is still the way to go.

If the deeds are titled the same and you only have 1 UY, the contracts will be under 1 membership and account.

My only caution is making sure which resorts you want to call home. We currently have 6 home resorts because we thought we knew which was our favorites but we were wrong. We have finally settled on VGF and VWL as our MK resorts and BWV as our DHS/Epcot resort.

Until you spend some time at each resort, deciding on a favorite can be a challenge.

Bill

 

[jerseyduke]

The points do not get absorbed. Resale ones do not have all the perks direct ones currently have.

If you buy at the poly in the future, and get one use year, with the contract titled the same, all the points will be in one account however.

That is nice because at the 7 month mark, all the points are right there. No transferring, etc.

Realize however, that even in one account, your VWL points are VWL points. They can not be used at the Poly at the 11 month mark, only at the 7. The one account makes things easier to manage.

Sounds like resale is def. for you, with an add on at the poly when the day comes. That's probably the easier way, since Disney can just match the UY of your VWL contract.

 

[fauntleroy53]

Thank-you so much!
No matter how much I think I understand, there's always another question creeping around the corner!!!!

 

[Deb & Bill]

Perks come and go. The perks you get buying direct could disappear tomorrow. All you are guaranteed, either resale or direct, is staying at a DVC resort using your points.

 

[Dean]

IF you'll go once or twice a year, value staying on property enough to stay at deluxe, plan ahead and can buy without financing; DVC likely is a good choice for you assuming you aren't going to be worried about the compromises inherent to a timeshare (which you have an idea of already). Other potential options would be expanding your RCI options partly for the purpose of using it for DVC and looking at non DVC options for Orlando either directly or by exchange. I'm guessing you're currently with either Coral resorts or Spinnaker as your points system.

As for retail vs resale, retail gives you nothing of inherent value currently nor is it likely to in the future.

 

[JimMIA]

Since it appears our only interest for DVC would be just for DVC,would it make more sense for us to look towards re-sale than buying direct?
That's the big question. From what I've been reading, we may not need whatever "perks" come with buying direct,but I may be missing something & I'm hoping you all can let me know if I'm on the right track.
Our only interest in our home resort would be WL or the Poly,which leads me to my next question.

Unless you have a huge preference for Poly, VWL resale would make much more sense. Buying Poly direct, you'd likely be paying $85+ more per point than VWL resale. Very hard to justify that differential if you'd be happy at VWL.

The downside of VWL resale is that it's a small resort and there are not that many contracts on the market, so it may take some time. But I think you're knowledgeable enough to know not to rush something like this.

Are re-sale points and direct points absorbed together, with no distinction between them? If we buy a small amount of re-sale points,just to get our foot in the DVC door and later buy Poly direct points, do the resale points get absorbed into one point package,so the resale points really do end up getting all those direct sale perks anyway?????
Am I making sense?

Yes and no, both in terms of the question and the "Am I making sense" part.

If your contracts have identical titling and the same UY, they will be in the same account and can be used together. However, if the points are at different resorts, they will only have the 11 month booking advantage at the respective home resorts -- can't combine home and non-home until 7 months.

As others have said, if you have both direct and resale points, only the direct points will have direct "perks." Those perks are very much subject to change, they don't have much real value to anyone except timeshare salesmen, and from your description of your vacationing habits, they almost certainly have no value at all to your family.

 

[JimMIA]

Two additional comments:

Other potential options would be expanding your RCI options partly for the purpose of using it for DVC and looking at non DVC options for Orlando either directly or by exchange.

This may well be your best option -- not only because of the cost (hundreds, rather than tens of thousands of dollars), but also because you are already scraping together points for your existing EOY HHI vacations.

For WDW trips, you would have three good options.

If you purchase the right system you will have lodging options at WDW that are comparable to DVC...and in some cases, better. You will give up being "inside the bubble," but there are many other benefits to weigh which might offset that. That's a decision that is unique to your family, and none of us can tell you how critical being onsite is to your family. (Neither can you until you've tried both.)

If you purchase a system that trades via RCI -- AND you purchase something that does not lock you out of Orlando exchanges -- you would be able to use your points to exchange into DVC. There seems to be a good bit of RCI/DVC inventory for those who know how to use RCI and plan ahead. Also, as more DVC owners opt to exchange out via RCI, that availability seems to be growing. The risk, of course, is that DVC switches back to II. I personally think that's unlikely -- they tried II and went back to RCI. But even if that happens, you would have plenty of offsite options.

If you decide not to vacation at WDW every year -- it's a very expensive vacation -- you have the option of using either your home system or RCI for thousands of other options.

Point #2:
Purchasing DVC will not permit you to bring the whole family to WDW unless you buy a large number of DVC points...and pay the MFs on those points every year, whether you do a big family trip or not. You can manage that issue somewhat with banking and borrowing, but it is still something you will have to deal with.

Related to that family trip issue is the fact that WDW is a very expensive vacation, and your kids may not want to spend that much money on a regular basis for that specific vacation. Especially as the grandkids get older, their vacationing interests are likely to change quite a bit. Everybody loves Disney, but not everyone wants to do it every year, or even every other year.

 

[JimMIA]

Now I know RCI has sharing with OKW,SSR, AKV and BWV.

Just to be clear, RCI exchanges into ALL DVC resorts, including the non-WDW resorts.

A few days ago, I posted the following RCI/DVC availability on another thread:

BWV - 38 units*
SSR - 26 units
OKW - 20 units
AKV - 40 units
BCV - 20 units

All of the units are either 1 BR or 2 BR -- haven't seen any mention of either studios or 3 BR.

*"unit" meaning a villa for seven nights

BLT is not mentioned in that particular bulk deposit, but RCI members regularly get BLT.

VB and HHI are often available just with random searching, without using an ongoing search.

 

[cmrdgrs]

Seems like you have a good understanding of your needs. I agree with other comments here and think resale will be the way for you to go too.

If you love VGF or think you will love Polly when it opens and you want to stay at those resorts at high, high peak times or KNOW that you can get a room at those resorts - I would buy there. But, you and DH sound like you would most likely travel to WDW at off-peak times and have flexibility.

We travel almost pretty much exclusively to DL and as it turns out we are not sorry in the least that we bought those points direct. We want to add to our VGC points and if I find a contract, by the time I call it already is sold with a full price offer. For now I will be happy and know I will always be able to get a room at VGC.

The only other thing to consider, but it is important to my family, is how the rooms at the various resorts are configured. We prefer to have 2 bathrooms in our room. 1 bath for 4 people (two adults + two children) just does not work for us. Very few resorts in WDW have 1 bdrms with the extra bath. This might sound silly, but when we figured out that not all 1 bdrms have 2 baths it narrowed down the rooms we are willing to book at WDW.

 

[SarahInMN]

Perks come and go. The perks you get buying direct could disappear tomorrow. All you are guaranteed, either resale or direct, is staying at a DVC resort using your points.

We bought only at resorts where we knew we wanted to stay. We love the easy accessibility of BCV in terms of walking to 2 parks and we love the monorail accessibility of VGF. For us, we wouldn't be happy staying a resort where we were dependent on the bus system but again that's just us.

We didn't buy because of perks - trading out isn't a good value (either objectively or subjectively to us). We love the AP discount but again like any perk that can be taken away.

 

[JimMIA]

We love the AP discount but again like any perk that can be taken away.

And not a perk the OP needs anyway. They are Florida residents and we get the same price DVC members get. Either perk could go away, but not likely to happen IMHO because both perks directly benefit Disney.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

And remember that what resort you own at is important only if you can book further than 7 months out and will use the home resort priority booking period. If you wouldn't book until 7 months or less before the reservation then you are best off buying a lower cost resort resale with low MF's.