Any way I can get a Grand Villa?

[sajilunni]

Hi, I just received my welcome packet last week. We won't be going to Disney until the first week of June, 2008. I really wanted to get a Grand Villa at OKW for our vow renewal, but so far I only have 150 points at SSR. I was planning on buying another 150 points at OKW on the resale market, because I figured that 300 points and borrowing into the next year would give me enough to get an OKW GV (439 pts). But when I read the info packet, I realized that I have to have the full amount of points at that home resort in order to make a reservation at the 11 month mark. Even with 150 points at OKW, I won't have enough to book it then, right?

Is there any chance of me getting a Grand Villa at OKW if I book it at the 7 month mark for June? Or should I try to rent/transfer points in order to get a reservation at the 11 month mark? (I don't really have a good understanding of the rental and transfer system)

Thanks for any advice and insight you can provide!

 

[castleri]

If you buy the additonal OKW points and bank this years, use next years and then borrow from 2009 you can do it at the 11 month mark. If you don't want to borrow you could bank this years, use them and next years for the days you want the most and then try to get the remaining day or days with your SSR points at 7 months. If you have a weekend in there use the OKW points to book the weekdays and then try for the weekend ones with the SSR points. If not try right at the 7 month point with your SSR points and with banking, usind the current year and borrowing you can come up with the points you need. I know someone who was able to get an OKW GV for a spring break week at the 6 month mark so you may stand a good chance.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Plan your trip for the first 10 days of June and you use fewer points than later in June.

 

[icydog]

Getting a GV at 7 months is very difficult. I have one reserved for Nov and I had to do it a day at a time exactly 11 months from my check in date.

 

[sajilunni]

Okay, I think I must not completely understand banking. I had thought that if you bank this years points then you can not use them until the following year.

So here's my scenario: I have 150 SSR points with a September use year, so I'll be getting those 150 points in September 2007. I have my eye on a resale of 150 OKW points with a October use year, and I'll get those in October 2007. I want to get an OKW GV which requires 439 points in June 2008.

I thought if I bank all my points in October 2007 that means that I will have 300 points to use from October 2008- October 2009. It is only in October 2008 that I can use 3 years worth of points (banked, current and borrowed). Is that right or do I have it all wrong? Because I think that I won't be able to make a reservation for OKW until December 2007 when I will have enough current points and borrowed points to add up to 439.

I would love to get everything squared away as early as possible. But I really don't know if I am able to make a home resort reservation unless I have the complete amount of points at the time of the reservation, and not just at the time that we're actually staying there.

Thanks

 

[castleri]

Okay, I think I must not completely understand banking. I had thought that if you bank this years points then you can not use them until the following year.

So here's my scenario: I have 150 SSR points with a September use year, so I'll be getting those 150 points in September 2007. I have my eye on a resale of 150 OKW points with a October use year, and I'll get those in October 2007. I want to get an OKW GV which requires 439 points in June 2008.

I thought if I bank all my points in October 2007 that means that I will have 300 points to use from October 2008- October 2009. It is only in October 2008 that I can use 3 years worth of points (banked, current and borrowed). Is that right or do I have it all wrong? Because I think that I won't be able to make a reservation for OKW until December 2007 when I will have enough current points and borrowed points to add up to 439.

I would love to get everything squared away as early as possible. But I really don't know if I am able to make a home resort reservation unless I have the complete amount of points at the time of the reservation, and not just at the time that we're actually staying there.

Thanks

You are correct in how banking works. I was thinking that you would have the first points from (in Your case) Oct 2006- which could be banked into Oct 2007 and then borrow from 2008. The contract you are looking at must be stripped of points if you don't get any until Oct 2007 so you are right it would not work for what you want to do. You would have at most 300 points by using the 2007 and 2008 points. If you had a contract that still had the 2006-2007 points you could get 450 points to use. Another option would be to rent out your SSR points to get the money to have someone transfer OKW points to you if you get an OKW contract that doesn't have quite enough. This is truly a case where UY coujnts.

 

[CarolMN]

If you buy your OKW contract directly from Disney now, you will get October 2006 points (which they will allow you to bank). Do the math - it might not be more (or much more) expensive to buy directly from Disney, especially if you consider your peace of mind.

 

[dis-happy]

If you buy your OKW contract directly from Disney now, you will get October 2006 points (which they will allow you to bank). Do the math - it might not be more (or much more) expensive to buy directly from Disney, especially if you consider your peace of mind.

I would suggest doing this as well, but remember, you must purchase before October to get the bonus 2006 points. Banking deadlines won't apply, so you'll be set to bank. Just don't wait until Sept. to call your guide, there may not be points available (I goofed when adding on at BWV once time).

Another option is to find a member with OKW points and have them trasnferred in to your account. Then you could make your reservation at the 11 month window. This should be pretty easy to do, just make sure the points will be "current" for the time you want to use them.

 

[sajilunni]

OH!!! I had not known it was possible to buy OKW from Disney directly because I thought they were only selling SSR and AKV now!

I just called James at Disney and he said that if I bought directly from them I could keep a September use year and get all the banked points from 2006 and borrow from 2008 to get the GV. Of course they're selling it for $92 a point instead of the $76 a point it's going for on the resale market. It will be about a $2000 difference, so now I'll have to weigh the cost versus the risk of not getting the OKW villa we wanted....

Kinda complicated, this whole thing.

 

[castleri]

Those 150 points is also worth about $1600 or more with today's rental market if you have to rent them from someone else. Did he say how much the closing costs would be so you can also compare that to the resale cost? Since you already own at SSR they should be less if you buy direct from Disney. If you rent out your SSR points it would also help with the addtional cost since you were originally planning to use them for the trip. They would tecnically be extra points. Isn't it fun seeing all the different approaches to this issue

Good luck with whatever you decide - A GV at OKW is so great - every DVC member should stay in one at least once.