Buying a 50 point contract for 75 point stays

[DisBuckMan]

Does that mean the parks were packed/maxed out? And was this only on Christmas day?

It's not unusual at all for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, and New Year's Day to fill the parks to capacity, and people be turned away at the gate.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

It's not unusual at all for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, and New Year's Day to fill the parks to capacity, and people be turned away at the gate.

Easter week and July 4 have had some phased closures as well in past years.

 

[SuperRob]

Recently discovered DVC and I'm thinking about buying in. If the stay I'm interested in costs 75 points, would buying a 50 point contract and going one time two out of three years work? Is there a risk of having unused points that I would lose? I put together a usage spreadsheet (partially shown below), does it look correct or am I missing something? Is a December stay with a February use year going to be a really bad idea, or acceptable in this scenario? Thoughts and opinions are appreciated!

We started with only 60 points at SSR. We've stretched those points pretty well. We started with a five night stay at Aulani, a four night at the Grand Cal, and a week long stay at the Grand Floridian. We're about to go back to Aulani for a week next month. We're only now in the process of adding on via a resale.

So what you want to do absolutely CAN be done. It does take some work, flexibility, and luck, and judicious use of the one-time use points if you need to go slightly more expensive or for more time. Drop me a line if you want to hear more about how I've managed a small starter contract ... happy to give advice wherever I can.

 

[Airb330]

I'll add that if this is for VGF in early Dec it's a bad plan IMO because studios cannot be guaranteed there. You didn't say where but just wanted to point out that many people bought a small amount of points there to stay studios for the Christmas season and it's causing a few headaches for those people.

As far as getting a studio for VGF in early Dec., is it really that difficult even if it's your home resort? One of the reasons I'm considering buying points instead of renting (as we do now) is that 11 month booking advantage at your home resort. If owners can't even get a studio at 11 months maybe I should reconsider buying altogether.

It's pretty difficult. I had an issue this year. I did end up getting 3/4 nights I wanted, but it was a headache. Thursday, December 8th of all days seems like a lost cause though! I don't regret buying 50pts to use in Oct or Dec, but we still may sell if it continues to be difficult. I'd advise against buying JUST for December at this point to be honest though. Certainly not impossible but you could set yourself up for disappointment various years.

As miTnosnhoJ said above, he had difficulties the same week I did. I did end up in the STD view I wanted, while he had to go lake view. I was online at 8am as well, some of the days I wanted were sold out before I ever even had access (people booking longer trips or "walking" their reservation. Probably a combination of both).

 

[BWV Dreamin]

I tried using a small contract in just the same way. It did not work for me. If you would need to cancel you will have borrowed points that will have to be used and hard to rent. Just buy enough for the current year.