Any FL DVC owners

[gatorgirl02]

I am a FL resident and thinking about buying into the DVC. I was curious if there were any other FL DVC'ers out there who could help with a question:

Since you are FL residents, I would assume you use your points for more frequent but shorter trips, ie long weekends, etc. Because of that, did you buy less points than normal (<150) or more points since you would be using them more often and likely have familiy visiting who would use them?

Thanks for your help!

 

[erionm]

We live in the Orlando area and own DVC. We have a total of 325 points and use them ourselves. We do mostly long weekends and will stay in either a studio or 1-bedroom. We do at least 4 long weekends a year mostly towards the end of the year (Sept - Dec).

Here's a FL Owners thread (not any activity lately): http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1741319

 

[Lucia_27]

We live in St. Pete, and are in the process of buying DVC. We typically take a long trip (8 days) when school is out, and a weekend trip for F&W. We wanted around 300 pts so that we could do both, or break up the long trip into several shorter ones as DD gets older and we do MNSSHP and such.

We are spoiled by the 1br villas, so we had to have enough points for that for a long trip. We did 5 days at the Poly last year, and while it was beautiful, I need a bit more space from my DH and DD!

 

[gatorgirl02]

We live in the Orlando area and own DVC. We have a total of 325 points and use them ourselves. We do mostly long weekends and will stay in either a studio or 1-bedroom. We do at least 4 long weekends a year mostly towards the end of the year (Sept - Dec).

Here's a FL Owners thread (not any activity lately): http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1741319

Michael - Thanks so much for the link, I will check it out and maybe try to revive it...

As for the point totals, that is a lot more points then I thought I would need, although I was looking mainly at studios vs 1-bedrooms. But, that definitely gives me some food for thought if we want to go the 1-BR route.

 

[gatorgirl02]

We live in St. Pete, and are in the process of buying DVC. We typically take a long trip (8 days) when school is out, and a weekend trip for F&W. We wanted around 300 pts so that we could do both, or break up the long trip into several shorter ones as DD gets older and we do MNSSHP and such.

We are spoiled by the 1br villas, so we had to have enough points for that for a long trip. We did 5 days at the Poly last year, and while it was beautiful, I need a bit more space from my DH and DD!

Thanks for your response! May I inquire as to where in the process you are and which resort your were going to purchase at? If you have put in an offer, good luck!

I have heard that once you stay in the 1-bedroom units its hard to go back, but hopefully for the sake of my wallet, I can avoid the temptation... We have one little DD now, but I'm sure once we add to our family, a 1-bedroom will make more sense. Something to think about I guess. Also, please excuse my ignorance, but what is MNSSHP?

 

[druidia]

We are FL residents and DVC members. We've always made several trips per year to Disney for weekend trips.

When I looked into purchasing, I looked at our calendar and planned out when we generally like to travel along with any specific resorts we preferred for those stays. For instance, we got married at the Boardwalk so we like to stay there for our anniversary trips; we visit every October to meet up with friends and prefer to stay near MK, etc.

I compared those dates with the points charts to get an idea of the amount of points we might want and then tried to buy a contract that would cover some of that to start. I didn't want to buy all of the "needed" points at first in case I found out that I didn't like the resort and/or DVC for one reason or another.

We've been happy with SSR for 6 years. We had twins last year so our future points requirements will undoubtedly increase, so I'm looking for resales right now at a different resort so we can spread out our booking priority elsewhere.

In general we have been able to be very flexible with our stays as long as we plan in advance. It hasn't been as easy to make last minute trips and stay in a studio to save on points, but then we haven't traveled as much with the kids around. We expect that to change as they get older and already have 2 trips booked for this year. We are also planning to buy our next contracts based on the likelihood that we will be upgrading to 1BR units in the future.

It's not an exact science, but it's a starting point. I would be careful about buying too many points though. Once you've paid off your purchase, that's done. But the maintenance fees are the "gift that keeps on giving" and they only go up. And are oh-so-conveniently due every year right after you've just paid for holiday spending!

 

[Lucia_27]

Thanks for your response! May I inquire as to where in the process you are and which resort your were going to purchase at? If you have put in an offer, good luck!

We are waiting to see if we make it thru ROFR (sub 3/5ish). We will be buying at OKW. I love the size of the 1BR (bigger than my 1st apartment!) and my DH loves being right by the golf course. Thanks for the well wishes!

I have heard that once you stay in the 1-bedroom units its hard to go back, but hopefully for the sake of my wallet, I can avoid the temptation... We have one little DD now, but I'm sure once we add to our family, a 1-bedroom will make more sense. Something to think about I guess. Also, please excuse my ignorance, but what is MNSSHP?

I agree on the 1br- but for a weekend trip we would be fine with a studio if it's just me, DH and DD. Now sometimes my parents come with us to F&W, and it will be nice to get a 1br or even 2 studios. We are looking at 320 points if we get this contract, which would make that do-able.

MNSSHP is Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party - a special afterhours party at MK where you can dress up, get candy, etc. I've never been, but have heard it's awesome! We wanted to wait until DD is a bit older (she's 7 now) so she can enjoy the late night.

 

[erionm]

Also, please excuse my ignorance, but what is MNSSHP?

MNSSHP = Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party

 

[com_op_2000]

We purchased DVC for our own use, for family and friends to use, to give as gifts, and to make a donation for a charity. We take multiple trips each year. We got this for escaping to WDW whenever we wanted. We do a minimuum of four trips per year anywhere from 1 to 12 days.
We have booked trips anywhere from 15 minutes (at DTD and decided to stay the night) upto 18 months ahead of time for a DCL on points.

 

[gatorgirl02]

Com - Thanks for the insight. Sounds like you enjoy your DVC points to the fullest

Druidia - Thank you for sharing your experience. I am with you on the not buying all the points at one time theory, though I am trying to balance having to make another purchase soon after b/c we mow through our points. That being said, my DH mihgt want to buy more points now, so we shall see. As far as the MF are concerned, I will definitely be doing the monthly option to avoid the large heartache right after the holidays.

Congrats on the twins! I bet you have your hands full with three now though, lol Good luck to you and enjoy your upcoming trips

 

[dclfun]

We live in Hunter's Creek, about 10 minutes from the resorts/parks of WDW. Until I recently sold two contracts ( due to incurable illness) we had 450 points and used them all. Now we have our original 150 at OKW, my favorite DVC resort. Even though I could easily drive home after a day at Disney, there's nothing like driving through the gates and feeling the weight of the world leave your shoulders knowing that you are "on vacation". It is SO much different to be staying onsite vs. just driving over for the day, even though I do that too. When we bought we had four kids at home. Now those "kids" are young adults and two have their own families- one is in Chicago and one in Port Charlotte, the other two in Orlando closer to me. We can treat ourselves to a large family trip or just have one of them up for a long weekend or short vacation. I have two upcoming nights at VWL just for myself for a little getaway and I can't wait. So, DVC is just as good, IMO, anywhere you live, and even for our family who lives nearby.