Buying new DVC- wih few ques re UY

[abarnes64]

Hi,


Buying our DVC membership within the wk- I think? Few questions though. And- Eeeek! Excited to own my own little piece of Disney!! We are family of 4 ( 2 and 4 yo and we are in our late 30's).

Buying into GF or AKV??? The GF is longer in terms of membership BUT we'd most likely stay at AKV (kids love it). I'm really just buying the points right??? And I like the idea of a longer point membership. Thoughts?

Also, UY question. I am still trying to understand this. If I buy now, when is my user year? My kids are little now so we would want to go whenever we can and most economical is a Jan stay and a Sept stay and that is when we'd go. How far in advance can I book AKV? 11 mos? So if I joined now I could book next Jan 15 staring feb 1 of this yr?

Also my BIG question- how far outdo the AKV book up for the off season like jan or sept? Is there a chance I could buy into GF and NOT find availability to book my AKV stay in the off season? My DVC rep was kind of vague when I inquired about this.

We are contemplating an into point purchase OR a 125 or 140 point purchase as that is what budget allows now BUT how difficult to add points on? Do they add to current membership or does it eve ole over time (100 pints now and if I add on 50 points will they start later, etc) or do I need to buy new membership later in order to always have DVC even after I'm gone, etc-?for kiddos.

Thanks to anyone that can help!

 

[newdeal]

I think you need to do more research. First it sounds like you are thinking of buying direct which imo is a mistake as its a waste of money. Second if you want to buy points to stay at AKV then you would want to buy points on the resale market either for AKV (because that is where you think you want to stay) or SSR (because they have one of the the lowest maintenance fees and per point cost). Generally it seems as though AKV has a lot of availability except of the value studios. I will let someone who is wiser than I answer the rest of your questions

 

[abarnes64]

If I buy resale points though, won't my membership time be less depending upon date points started? Thank you for reply

 

[com_op_2000]

PP is correct it sounds like you need to do more research before buying. Please, read the stickies at the top of these pages before buying and read a lot of the threads on this board.

Also, UY question. I am still trying to understand this. If I buy now, when is my user year? My kids are little now so we would want to go whenever we can and most economical is a Jan stay and a Sept stay and that is when we'd go. How far in advance can I book AKV? 11 mos? So if I joined now I could book next Jan 15 staring feb 1 of this yr?

UY is the month you get your points for use within the next year. (IE: June UY has points good for use from June 1, 2014 till May 31, 2015). There is also, banking and borrowing that you need to understand the limitations, if you do not already.
Booking:
You can book up to 11 months in advanced of your arrival date at your home resort; in your example above for a Jan 15, 2015 check-in date you can book your home resort as early as 8:00 AM online or 9:00 AM through MS on Feb 15, 2014.
You can book up to 7 months in advanced of your arrival date at your non-home resort; in your example above for a Jan 15, 2015 check-in date you can book your non-home resort as early as 8:00 AM online or 9:00 AM through MS on May 15, 2014.
Also, UY has nothing to do with when you can book, the points just need to be available for when you travel not when you book the vacation.

DVC off-time is not the same as the parks/hotels on property. DVC is a timeshare it is designed to be at 98%+ occupied at all times. Mid-Sept through Mid-Jan are the busiest months of he year due to Sept - Nov F&W at EPCOT, Oct - MNSSHP, Nov-Jan Holiday decoration at all parks/resorts, and then Jan -the marthon/races.

We are contemplating an into point purchase OR a 125 or 140 point purchase as that is what budget allows now BUT how difficult to add points on? Do they add to current membership or does it eve ole over time (100 pints now and if I add on 50 points will they start later, etc) or do I need to buy new membership later in order to always have DVC even after I'm gone, etc-?for kiddos.

You need more understanding of this area to ask the correct questions.
Can you add on to your membership - yes BUT it must be the same UY, same resort, and the title must be held in the excate same family members names. Otherwise you will get a new membership for that contract.
Can you pass along your title to your children - yes BUT you need to consult your legal/tax advisor and understand the best ways to do this.
All DVC contracts have an end date, so once that date gets here you have nothing to pass along.

 

[Maverick]

If I buy resale points though, won't my membership time be less depending upon date points started? Thank you for reply

Contract end date is the same for every member at a given resort regardless of when the points were 'purchased'. For AKV, the contract ends in January 2057 for all people who own points at AKV. BLT contracts end in January 2060 for all people who own points at BLT.

You can book 11 months ahead of your arrival date at ONLY the resort where you own points. So... If you own at BLT, you can book BLT 11 months in advance, If you own at BLT but want to stay at AKV, you can book at AKV only 7 months in advance.

I'm not sure where you are in the overall decision making process, but I'd suggest you spend some time learning about DVC and reading all the amazing information on this website, especially the Purchasing DVC forum, the Member Services forum and the DVC Resorts forum. You'll learn most everything you need to know and a lot more than Disney provides on their websites.

Before purchase, you should definitely have a good understanding of 'Use Year', points needed, maintenance fees (and how that cost far outweighs your initial DVC purchase price over the life of the ownership) and future vacation needs / wants. As an example... Vacationing in January and September may be good today with your children not yet in school, but does that change when they are in school and how does that affect your needed points? Will you take them out of school? Will everyone still want to go to Disney 10 years from now when they are teenagers? (etc. etc.)

I also believe buying resale is the best way to get into DVC. You will save a lot of money compared to buying direct.

The biggest piece of advice I can give is to slow down a bit. It's a 40+ year commitment for the 2 resorts you mentioned and it sounds like you don't yet understand as much as you should. I recommend being fully armed with as much information as possible before making your final decision. And there's a lot of information to become armed with.

There are lots of people that post in this forum who are more than willing to help!

Mav

 

[com_op_2000]

If I buy resale points though, won't my membership time be less depending upon date points started? Thank you for reply

Yes depending on the resort you have as your home resort.
There have been VGF (the latest resort currently) resales on the market, that you can get for less than buying direct.

 

[abarnes64]

Oh geez corn_op_2000 - i have done some reading but not enough yet to fully understand it all!!! Thank you for the info! I agree that I need to fully understand it before we make this investment. It's alot of $. I feel silly asking this now, but what would my user year be? My purchase year?

I probably should just consider buying into AKV then! If we bought into AKV then my expiration of DVC contract would be 2057 vs the GF exp DVC contract would be 2064. That was persuading me to do GF due length of timeshare. But GF requires more points, etc. it's more $. Great location though.

Does your home resort get you preference for booking other than timing? 7 mos? Thank you for helping a newbie

 

[PacoDF]

Does your home resort get you preference for booking other than timing? 7 mos? Thank you for helping a newbie

Your home resort allows you to book 11 months in advance. You can book 7 months in advance at the rest of the DVC resorts. That's all the priority you'll get/need. At 11 months you'll be competing only with the others owners of that home resort. At 7 months, the owners of all DVC resorts can compete with you for availability.

 

[vicki_c]

Oh geez corn_op_2000 - i have done some reading but not enough yet to fully understand it all!!! Thank you for the info! I agree that I need to fully understand it before we make this investment. It's alot of $. I feel silly asking this now, but what would my user year be? My purchase year? I probably should just consider buying into AKV then! If we bought into AKV then my expiration of DVC contract would be 2057 vs the GF exp DVC contract would be 2064. That was persuading me to do GF due length of timeshare. But GF requires more points, etc. it's more $. Great location though. Does your home resort get you preference for booking other than timing? 7 mos? Thank you for helping a newbie

Your use year -which is specified by a month - will be whatever Disney is selling at that time, although you might be able to ask for a particular month and get it. When we bought in March, the use year offered to us was August. So my points for each use year are valid for stays from August 1 to July 31 of the following year.

It's good to have a use year that starts right before your typical vacation time if you have one. August worked well for us because we like to travel in the fall/winter, so if we ever had to cancel, we were still in the window to bank our points if needed. It is a bit confusing for a newbie. And keep in mind that your typical vacation time may change over the life of the contract. As I said, we like to travel in the fall and winter. But right now, we are limited to Easter break due to my kids' ages and also my husband's job. In a few years, my kids will be out of the house, and I expect that to change again.

Home resort just allows you to book at that resort at 7 months out vs the 11 months out that owners at other resorts get. A 4 month advantage. Dues/maintenance are also different at different resorts. Over the contract, you will pay more in annual dues than the purchase price, so that may be a consideration.

 

[momto3pirates]

If you purchase resale, you just look for a contract with the use year you want.
Use year has nothing to do with when you can book or when you purchased your points. It is important in that you can only bank your points in the first 8 months of your year.
All of the AKV contracts expire in the same year. Buying direct or resale does not change that.
Good luck in your search

 

[abarnes64]

Where would I go to look for DVC resale?

 

[abarnes64]

I only see a rent/trade category on the dish boards

 

[vicki_c]

Where would I go to look for DVC resale?

Google is your friend ! There are numerous brokers dealing with resales. One is a DIS sponsor, the Tmeshare Store.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Where would I go to look for DVC resale?

Try this thread: http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3039176

 

[Dean]

Oh geez corn_op_2000 - i have done some reading but not enough yet to fully understand it all!!! Thank you for the info! I agree that I need to fully understand it before we make this investment. It's alot of $. I feel silly asking this now, but what would my user year be? My purchase year?

I probably should just consider buying into AKV then! If we bought into AKV then my expiration of DVC contract would be 2057 vs the GF exp DVC contract would be 2064. That was persuading me to do GF due length of timeshare. But GF requires more points, etc. it's more $. Great location though.

Does your home resort get you preference for booking other than timing? 7 mos? Thank you for helping a newbie

I agree with several others, spend time learning, I usually recommend 6 months. It really doesn't make sense to buy GF to stay at AKV and it doesn't make sense to buy AKV retail. I think AKV is one of the big exceptions to the buy where you want to stay idea unless one is concentrating on the specialty room types like value or club level. Personally if I wanted AKV at this point, I'd simply buy SSR and count on getting AKV consistently. IMO there is very little risk in that approach and one can save a couple of thousand $$$ up front and a couple of hundred $$$ a year on a modest size contract. I do own AKV (4*25) along with a larger BWV contract but I must admit that AKV was not my best timeshare decision along the way even with the intent to sell EVERYTHING else that I had at the time, except maybe 25 points, and never got around to.

 

[Minniesgal]

Personally I wouldn't worry to much about UY because your kids are very little. I would imagine you will find over the next 10 years you habits change a lot as they grow up and go to school and again as they go to secondary school. I know it seems far off now but it comes around very quickly and you are buying DVC points for a very long time not just for what you need now. Your needs will change but once you understand fully the system you will find ways to work with whatever UY you buy. If you buy direct you can pick a UY.

 

[Dean]

Personally I wouldn't worry to much about UY because your kids are very little. I would imagine you will find over the next 10 years you habits change a lot as they grow up and go to school and again as they go to secondary school. I know it seems far off now but it comes around very quickly and you are buying DVC points for a very long time not just for what you need now. Your needs will change but once you understand fully the system you will find ways to work with whatever UY you buy. If you buy direct you can pick a UY.

While the best UY may not be important from a trip standpoint for some, I still think it's important both retail and resale. ANYONE who has specific trips in mind presently (or in the future) where UY could matter should worry about UY. The ONLY people who shouldn't worry about UY from an ownership standpoint are the ones who have no set times BOTH currently and in the future. Still, for those where owning a specific UY doesn't matter, it does matter on the purchase or at least it does alter the value by as much as about a years worth of points potentially.

However, I think it's only one factor, one that's often overlooked or undervalued and likely fourth in importance for some after home resort, number of points and real price. For others it should likely be second or third in that list and for some, probably the most important factor if they are going to buy at all.

 

[abarnes64]

Ok great tips everyone! So, the current points date on GF is April, so I'm going to ask of they will backdate my points- if they will then we'll have points to bank. I would like I choose my UY for a Jan SLOW time like 2nd half of mo. I think for what we want it'd be smart to buy direct from Disney for GF and buy a resale at AKV.

I know my kids will get older and things will change and we are willing to go with the flow and adjust our vacations accordingly- I can only predict the future to a degree. With my little guy- he likes predictability and does NOT like change down the nth degree. It will provide much comfort and fun knowing our resort or HOME in Disney year after year this makes is another reason that DVC is a great fit for our family.

 

[chalee94]

Ok great tips everyone! So, the current points date on GF is April, so I'm going to ask of they will backdate my points- if they will then we'll have points to bank. I would like I choose my UY for a Jan SLOW time like 2nd half of mo.

this sounds like you are saying you want an april UY for trips in late january? that worries me a bit that you have not been paying attention.

do you understand the difference between cancelling a jan 20, 2015 trip on dec 1, 2014 with an april UY as compared to a dec UY?

 

[abarnes64]

The points are awarded in April yearly. I want to go to WDW the 2nd half if Jan yrly. Couldn't I just bank my points and book my vacation this way?