Buying in at just 150 points?

[tss2]

I don't know if anyone has mentioned this yet, but where else would you like to vacation?

If you can trade points and can go where you want, extra points may be handy.

My family likes to go other places where I can't use my points....we have spent several family vacations in Phoenix where there aren't any trades that look desirable to us right now with a 6 and 8 year old. (although there is a dude ranch in Tucson that sounds like fun down the road)

Just think about what other vacations your family might like to go on and if you can use your DVC points for them.........hope this helps!

P.S. We have 150 points and are perfectly happy with it right now. We plan our vacations according to days my kids days off. We still pull them out of school, but for 3 1/2 days instead of 5 for a weeks vacation.

 

[Jen D]

Try this on your husband! Sit down and figure what it cost you to stay at WL in 2000. If that trip was not 7 days, add any extra days to that figure. Now, take that total cost and multiply it by 40. That total does not even take into consideration the inflation the economy feels each year so the total should actually be more if you add 2% to each year.

Well, I think the sticking point for *my* husband-- and probably for me too-- is this: sure it's a great idea if you know you want to go to Disney World every year for 40 years-- but are we sure that's what we want? We love it, love the resorts, but isn't there a chance that some day we'll be-- danger, heresy coming-- kind of OVER IT?

My hasty answer is-- go to Vero, go to HH, take time off from WDW for a while if we feel bored with it. Or use the points elsewhere. Of course, you folks don't seem to be bored yet!

As for resort location-- I appreciate all advice, and I hope to stay at all the resorts eventually if I buy in, but I am probably not looking at OKW. I like the BC/BW locations, especially since we don't really like renting cars. Besides, I see us doing studios occasionally, and I don't like the two-queen bed layout; I prefer the pullout. VWL seems very pretty, but I haven't seen any resales yet.

I love all the advice I get here!

 

[buck4568]

COLOR=orange]Quote[/COLOR]

Well, I think the sticking point for *my* husband-- and probably for me too-- is this: sure it's a great idea if you know you want to go to Disney World every year for 40 years

Have you looked at the DVC website? It gives you all the info on resorts around the world that you can use your points on. As for available resale points at DVC resorts check out these sites.I have also included the DVC link.


http://www.atimeshare.com

http://www.timesharesale.com

http://dvc.disney.go.com/disneyvacationclub/home

 

[firemankenpfd]

My best advice would be to buy what you can afford now. And, don't forget about the yearly fees. My DW and I purchased a resale in October 2001 at the BWV for 150 pts. It felt good at the time but we are going to do a 100 point add-on in April at the BCV when we take our first time home to BWV.

We plan on alternating each year between the BWV and the BCV for a while. Our goal is to stay in a 1BR each time for one long trip each year.

It is very hard not to get caught up in the excitement of buying more and more points by reading about everyone else buying add-on after add-on.

Just buy what you can afford now and have fun with what you have.

 

[Jen D]

Everyone's advice has been great. We still haven't decided (if I ever get my information packet from Disney I can sit down with dh and talk with him about it properly-- I want documentation! ) but I think if we do buy, 150 points is fine. I actually sat down with pencil, paper and adding machine today and imagined some vacations for the next 3-4 years with a 150 point allocation, and boy, I don't think I'd be lacking. There is such an endless stream of possibilities and accomodations, even with the minimum point allocation. Banking and borrowing helps a lot, and even if we borrowed a lot one year to get a bigger accomodation and bring family-- like a 2 bedroom or a even an OKW GV-- there is still enough left the next year to do a short trip for the three of us in a studio. In any case, I think we could manage a trip every calendar year, if not every 12 months. I think the existential problem of "how can I go back to a studio after a one-bedroom" sounds like the kind of worries and problems I'd like to have! I'm sure I can manage it!

You know, I thought I was just fantasizing about DVC to get myself through the winter blahs, but the more I look at it, the more the damn thing starts to make sense. And given that our little family is not very good at planning time away for the three of us that is not work-related-- it would be great to have a situation that made it easy-- even mandatory!-- for us to do just that.

 

[jmminarik]

Originally posted by Jen Dawson
I actually sat down with pencil, paper and adding machine today and imagined some vacations for the next 3-4 years with a 150 point allocation, and boy, I don't think I'd be lacking. There is such an endless stream of possibilities and accomodations, even with the minimum point allocation. Banking and borrowing helps a lot...And given that our little family is not very good at planning time away for the three of us that is not work-related-- it would be great to have a situation that made it easy-- even mandatory!-- for us to do just that.

Edited for brevity.
I set up a spreadsheet to do my math, but we do the same thing....plan out what, when and where. So far, we've taken a week at Vero over Christmas, BW NY's weekend, gave my best friends a 1BR Honeymoon at BW, and plan to take (assuming we get the rooms 7 months out) my inlaws to OKW in December. So owning DVC for us isn't just about us, but being able to share the magic with our friends, our nieces and nephews and the in-laws (though not too much for the in-laws...

One of the biggest things for us buying into DVC was that it would provide a destination and incentive for us to take planned vacations...if I had to shell out a a few grand every year to go to someplace of the quality of Disney, we'd probably spend alot of days off at home instead of out doing something.

We wound up buying 225 at VB, then adding 50pts on at VWL before the last price hike. I'm feeling the 'points mania' myself, but that's mainly because we're doing lots of scenarios for the upcoming 'in-law trip' and all roads are leading to OKW so far.

The fact that the bulk of our points is at VB isn't a problem since we're flexible in our time for vacations. In fact, the only sticking point we'll have is taking the In-Laws in December....so everybody cancel your OKW ressies and go to BCV!!!

Hope this helps,
Joe

 

[DisneyPhD]

Hello everyone. We are new both here at Dis board and DVC. We just bought 170 points at VWL and hope that it is enough for us. Every year for the past 7 years we have ended up at Disney, but this is really the first time we could aford DVC, in a way I wish we had took the leap sooner.

We have one 11 month old daughter and are looking foward to using the one bed room options. The way we figured it out, we could do a sudio one year and 1 BR the next. Or we could stay for 6 nights instead of 7 and miss one weekend night. I must say I really don't like how the points more then double on Fri and sat nights.

When we first started looking into DVC I was really disapointed with how limited your options with 150 points was, now I am starting to see, there are ways around it.

The only things I am disapointed about is that our last trip was Dec 2001, and now that we joined DVC after coming home, our next trip isn't until March 2003. Can I make it that long?

 

[Jen D]

Originally posted by jmminarik
One of the biggest things for us buying into DVC was that it would provide a destination and incentive for us to take planned vacations...if I had to shell out a a few grand every year to go to someplace of the quality of Disney, we'd probably spend alot of days off at home instead of out doing something.

Totally! Part of the reason I am interested is the idea of GUARANTEEING ourselves a vacation-- we have a tendency to not make time for ourselves....

 

[prplcrzy]

Jen,

Others have given you some great advice, but I will tell you from personal experience that 150 points will not be enough for you. If that is all you can afford then go for it, but if you think you can afford more, I would try to acquire more points. We have added on twice and started with 200 thinking that would be enough, and now we have 600. Not that I am advocating you buy 600 points, but I think 200-250 points is a great place to start. You want to enjoy this every year, not stress about how many points you need to borrow because you needed to go at a different time of year than you anticipated.

You will love the flexibility and the places to stay, and you will want more points. These are two facts that I really don't think anyone can dispute.

Good luck!

 

[JALaP]

We were thinking that 150 is what we could afford now, too, and that would give us a week in a studio at BCV each year. Then, we thought, if we want to take a second trip, we could pay cash for a regular hotel room if AP or other discounts make the $ low enough. (Or, I guess, rent DVC points). Are we totally defeating the financial savings aspect of DVC or do you all think this could make sense?

 

[JALaP]

We were thinking that 150 is what we could afford now, too, and that would give us a week in a studio at BCV each year. Then, we thought, if we want to take a second trip, we could pay cash for a regular hotel room if AP or other discounts make the $ low enough. (Or, I guess, rent DVC points). Are we totally defeating the financial savings aspect of DVC or do you all think this could make sense?

 

[ZerasPride]

My thinking is similar to yours. We bought 170 points which will be more than enough when DH and I are empty nesters in a few years to get a 1 bedroom at Hilton Head for a week (or more) in the two low seasons. If we want a second trip (Disney or another destination) in less than a year's time then we would pay cash for those visits. Ideally, while we are paying off our DVC mortgage, it doesn't make sense to me to pay for vacation accommodations and the mortgage at the same time, so at least for the next few years our destinations will be either Disney, the cruise, Vero or our home resort - Hilton Head.

Lisa

 

[dvcdudes]

JALaP,

We have 150 points and go twice a year. You could stay the week each time but use the cash for rooms on the weekend, using points for weekdays only. You would only be paying cash for 4 nights a year (figuring on 2/7 night trips) instead of 7. 10 nights would be with points @ about 12-19 points a night. You of course would not be able to go each time during premier season but if you did one year you could offset it by going choice or adventure the next. We usually only do 6 nights spending one in a "regular" cash hotel.
Some people seem to have more discretionary income than others and can afford 300-400-800 points. I can't but my little 150 points are helping us to be where we want to be (WDW) two weeks a year for the next 40 years. It don't get much better than that!

 

[Paul in CT]

150 Points definitely worked well for us to start. We just added on later (50 pts.) when we felt we needed more. The biggest benefit is the ease in selling smaller point contracts if you decide you want to.