Buying minimum points to stay at BCV or BWV

[Roveer]

I'd like to buy into DVC but have to do it as economically as possible. Help me understand how it works. Let's assume I was going to buy resale not through Disney. I know the basic concept (points, use year, home resort etc), it's the "how do I spend the least amount of $$ but still get to book the resorts I want 1 year out" advice I need.

We are a family of 6 and would like to stay in 2 bedroom villas. The point charts show 250+ points to do that at BCV or BWV which is where we'd like to stay.

What's the least amount of points I need to buy at a resort to be able to book 1 year in advance? If I buy BCV points and then buy vero points (or someplace cheaper) can I apply those points to staying at BCV?

What's the best way to go about this? When I look at the for sale listings the amount of points I need for a week the cost is pretty darn high. That with the dues on top really make it hard to justify ownership.

Our problem is we are a family of 6 with the youngest who's now 3. That now prohibits us from staying at any WDW hotel in a single room except BW in their club rooms and those are $$$. So, WDW basically pushed us out of their resorts unless we are able to pay big bucks for larger accomodations. We've been staying in the Poly for years with first 4 then 5 then 6 of us with no problem. When the kids are this young, you fit in the rooms without too much trouble. Dont' get me wrong, we stayed 2 bedroom BCV for a few nights and it was just wonderful. We just can't afford to do that often.

Roveer

 

[disneynutz]

If you want to book 11 months out, then you have to have enough points for that resort to do so. You can't buy cheaper points somewhere else and use them at 11 months. You can at 7 months, but you may not be able to get your favorite resort/room size choice then.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Before you plunk down the cash to buy at VB, check out the dues you will be paying there. That could justify SSR or OKW instead.

Your family of six could also stay at the All Stars Family Suite or Ft Wilderness Cabins - both sleep six. Or just wait around for another Disney sale on lodging at WDW. As long as they are trying to fill the rooms, they should be offering rather nice deals.

By the way, SSR has the Treehouse Villas that sleep nine for the same price as a two bedroom villa at SSR. SSR is a very nice resort.

 

[chalee94]

We are a family of 6 and would like to stay in 2 bedroom villas. The point charts show 250+ points to do that at BCV or BWV which is where we'd like to stay.

What's the least amount of points I need to buy at a resort to be able to book 1 year in advance?

a 25 point BCV contract gets you the 11 month advantage at BCV for those 25 pts.

If I buy BCV points and then buy vero points (or someplace cheaper) can I apply those points to staying at BCV?

not till the 7 month window, no. you can't cheat the 11 month advantage by using other points...you have to use BCV pts to book BCV at 11 months. they can be banked BCV pts, borrowed BCV pts, current BCV pts or BCV pts that you've transferred in...but ONLY BCV pts at the 11 month window.

What's the best way to go about this? When I look at the for sale listings the amount of points I need for a week the cost is pretty darn high. That with the dues on top really make it hard to justify ownership.

a 2BR suite with a full kitchen, washer/dryer and jacuzzi that is within walking distance of epcot is going to be pricey any way you go about it...yes. if you only stay for 6 nights and avoid a weekend night, you could save a little but that's all i can think of...

for the best prices for a larger family, offsite vacation homes probably offer the best deals. if you liked OKW and SSR, those can be had for somewhat more reasonable prices resale...but onsite disney is just expensive...

 

[Roveer]

Well, that pretty much spells that out. Thanks for setting the record straight. Back to the the drawing board.

Roveer

 

[5forDiz]

If you purchase on resale market you can purchase a DVC contract with less points than Disney will require you to purchase on direct buy-in with them ( Disney's direct buy-in will be 160 pts minimum ). There is an abundance of resale contracts of all sizes available for most DVC resorts & as pp mentioned SSR contracts often are excellent value & THVs are 3 bedroom accommodation for same amount of points as 2br villa at SSR ( you will not see many BLT resale contracts at this point in time because it is the newest resort being sold at WDW ).
No matter what size resale contract you buy you will become a full DVC member - - your membership will not be treated any different so no worries there. And if you start off with a small resale contract, if you decide in future that you do need more points you can always purchase add-on contract(s) - either dirctly through Disney at 25 pt min with cash or 50 pt min with financing or you can always purchase additional contract(s) on resale market too.

Board sponsor, The Timeshare Store, is excellent and knowledgeable DVC resale broker; myself and many others here have purchased contracts through them. Get on their priority email alert list for new resale contracts that become available and find out about them before they are posted on their website

Earliest you can book at your Home Resort ( the resort you own your points at ) is 11 months before check-in date you'd want - - your owner's Home Resort priority booking window is 11 months through 7months+1day before check-in date you'd like; at 7 months or less before check-in any DVC member can book at any DVC resort they'd like so at that point on you'd be in competition with them for your reservation.

If you plan to travel to WDW once per year/EOY or ETY and need larger accommodations and prefer upscale resorts DVC is probably a good choice for your family.

Click link at upper right corner for DVC Point Charts - - be sure you are using 2010 Point Charts to do your calculations because beginning in 2010 the charts have new adjustments made to points required. Calculate which resort/number of nights/size villa needed/season(s) you like to travel to come up with points you'd need to make the trip(s) you want to do - - you might also want to purchase an additional 10 - 15% points over this amount just to give you a bit of a safeguard in event a re-allocation in Point Chart occurs again in the near future or if you travel from time to time during a season that requires more points (like Christmas, Easter). If you plan to travel Every Other Year or Every Third Year divide the total number of points you calculated by half or third because with banking & / or borrowing you can then have enough points to travel EOY or ETY - If you think you'd need 250 points to travel each year purchasing approx 125 pts will work for travelling EOY and approx 85 - 90 pts should work for travelling ETY.

Best wishes on your planning & hope you'll soon find the contract that is just right

 

[Belle & Ariel]

You could get a 1 bedroom at Bay Lake or Animal Kingdom. They sleep 5 and Disney allows one over the occupancy but you have to bring bedding and towels for the extra person. The living room has a sofa sleeper that sleeps 2 and a chair that converts into a twin. You could bring an airbed for the 4th child that would fit in the living room.
Both places have 2 bathrooms and would be about much less points than the 2 bedroom.
Would that work?

 

[crisi]

You could get a 1 bedroom at Bay Lake or Animal Kingdom. They sleep 5 and Disney allows one over the occupancy but you have to bring bedding and towels for the extra person. The living room has a sofa sleeper that sleeps 2 and a chair that converts into a twin. You could bring an airbed for the 4th child that would fit in the living room.
Both places have 2 bathrooms and would be about much less points than the 2 bedroom.
Would that work?

Disney has been allowing five in one bedrooms that sleep four. Have they really been allowing SIX in one bedrooms that sleep five? I thought the deal there was the sleeper chair gave you bedding, but occupancy was going to be 'enforced.'

 

[5forDiz]

Disney has been allowing five in one bedrooms that sleep four. Have they really been allowing SIX in one bedrooms that sleep five? I thought the deal there was the sleeper chair gave you bedding, but occupancy was going to be 'enforced.'

I thought same as you on this.....

 

[Deb & Bill]

You could get a 1 bedroom at Bay Lake or Animal Kingdom. They sleep 5 and Disney allows one over the occupancy but you have to bring bedding and towels for the extra person. The living room has a sofa sleeper that sleeps 2 and a chair that converts into a twin. You could bring an airbed for the 4th child that would fit in the living room.
Both places have 2 bathrooms and would be about much less points than the 2 bedroom.
Would that work?

Nope, the sixth person would have to be under the age of three. There is no way a sixth person would even fit in the BLT one bedroom. Five is going to be tight unless three of them are small ones.

This is just one of the problems with DVC allowing one extra in the rooms that sleep four. Lots of people think that it's not a problem to add another one.

 

[HeatherDew]

Hi Roveer,

I just wanted to mention that you can purchase less points and use banking and/or borrowing to get the total amount of points you need for your desired stay. However, this means you will get a DVC stay every 2 or 3 years rather than every year.

If you want to stay for a week in a 2BR at BCV or BWV, the most economical way to go would be a Standard View room at BWV (requires less points than BCV or BWV Boardwalk/Preferred View) during Adventure Season, so I will use that as an example. According to the 2009 points chart, that stay would be 222 points. If you wanted to stay there every year (assuming no adjustments to the points chart), you would need to buy a contract with 222 points. If you were going to do this same stay only every other year, though, you could bank or borrow and would only need to buy half as many points, which would be 111 points. If you did this stay every 3 years, you could bank AND borrow and would only need 1/3 of the points, or 74 points.

Just wanted to give you something else to consider. Let me know if there are any other questions I can help with!

 

[WendyinNC]

We are a family of 6 that bought DVC after our 4th child was born. We initially purchsed a 175 point resale contract at BWV. (We have since added on a few times). You may want to look at purchasing enough points for a 5 night stay in a 2BR (Sunday - Thursday). We initially purchased enough points to stay 1 week every other year, but quickly decided to use points for a 5 night stay every year. We love BWV and BCV but you may want to look at BLT or AKV since they have the additional sleeper chair in the living room. As the kids start getting into the teen years they don't really like to share beds. Good luck with your decision. I love my DVC (hence the add ons) and feel like it's a wonderful value for large families. I've never considered staying off site and I can't imagine paying cash for a 2BR or for 2 rooms at a deluxe resort.

 

[5forDiz]

If you want to stay for a week in a 2BR at BCV or BWV, the most economical way to go would be a Standard View room at BWV (requires less points than BCV or BWV Boardwalk/Preferred View) during Adventure Season, so I will use that as an example.

>>>>According to the 2009 points chart, that stay would be 222 points. If you wanted to stay there every year (assuming no adjustments to the points chart), you would need to buy a contract with 222 points.<<<<

In January 2009 DVC DID announce adjustments to DVC Points Charts beginning in 2010 calendar year.....see this thread for more details ( in most cases weekend nights require less points and
weekday nights require more points )

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2066946

If considering buying DVC use 2010 Points Chart to determine how many points to purchase.