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[findbyme]

My husband recently returned from Hurricane Charley clean up in Port Charlotte...what a mess.

Now we are planning our first family vacation to Disney and my first ever trip to FLA. Coming down for a convention in February and we are in the midst of making a reservation for a studio at Boardwalk. We already own timeshares in Aruba and St. Martin and will probably be interested in DVC ownership. I don't really get the point system...enlighten me. You seem to have your own language on these boards.....really would love some feedback on whether to buy SSR from DVC (how am I doing), if so what is a great deal? Or do we look to buy resale from DVC or third party. I really think we would like Boardwalk, Beach Club, Wilderness Lodge or SSR, not picky....not rich either.

:space:

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

Welcome to the Dis-Boards.

The first thing you should do is read Doc's list of Frequently Asked Questions. They will give you a lot of basic info that you will want.

There are many many factors that you need to consider for whether you buy and if you do, where you buy. The one big thing that you will hear often is "buy where you want to stay".

Good lcuk and have fun.

HBC

 

[Caskbill]

Most timeshares consist of owning a specific week at a specific resort and at a specific time of year. For example you might own unit #123 for week #26 at resort XYZ.

A point system has total flexibility. Each year you receive a new allocation of points. (If you initially purchase 150 points, then every year you receive a new allocation of 150 points)

Simply put, then you 'spend' the points for the accommodations you want. The 'cost' in points varies depending on what resort you select, what room type you select, what season you select, and whether it's a weekend or weekday. You can stay for as short as a single day or as long as you want based on the points you own.

You manage your points just like a checking account. New points are deposited annually, and points are 'spent' as you make vacations. To assist, you can 'bank' points into a following year if you can't use them one year, and you can 'borrow' points from next year into the current year and use them earlier for a vacation. (Banking/Borrowing subject to specific rules).

Disney uses what's called a 'use year'. Simply put it's a 12 month period that doesn't begin Jan 1st. For example it may go from June to June. Many States have similar things such as a license plate renewal tht might go for a 12 month period that is not Jan 1st through Dec 31st but rather mid year to mid year such as June to June. Thus if your DVC was a June use year, you would get your new allocation of points every June 1st each year, and they would be good to use through the following May 31st each year.

I have a couple of programs I created for planning purposes, but might suggest you try my simple DVC-Chart program first. It will give you a feel for the points required by resort, by accommodation, and by season. Follow the link below.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

 

[findbyme]

Hello Caskbill,

I actually found your calculators several threads down the forum. Found these to be very useful and I am thankfully starting to get the idea of this. Seems like best buys (resales) are probably at OKW and you will spend the most $$ per point at SSR. I probably will need 150+ points a year with my family and would prefer 1 bed+ units.

Thank you so much for your post. I noticed someone on another thread looking for you specifically, if I see them again I will tell them how to get your calculators.

 

[DrTomorrow]

Please note that the contract life of SSR is 12 years longer than any other DVC Resort. Since you're "not picky", this may be of value to you, depending on your age, offspring, etc.

Also, there are currently some incentives to buy SSR from Disney, and some additionaly costs buying non-Disney resales. Make sure you do your research (which it looks like you're doing) - there's a lot more than just up-front cost.

Finally, I agree with HBC regarding the DIS DVC Motto: "Buy where you want to stay!"

Best of luck!

 

[Dean]

While there are fixed week/fixed unit timeshares; there are many that are not. Besides DVC there are a number of other and larger points options. And many that are for a full week have flexibility. Some variations might include a lockoff where you can split it and trade for 2 weeks or a floating week option, usually within a season. Marriott is an example of the latter. Hyatt, Hilton, Fairfield, RCI, Bluegreen and Worldmark are examples of other points systems.

Buy DVC only if you plan to use it almost all the time. If you plan to do much trading, don't buy DVC or buy less points and look outside DVC for a trading option.