Can DVC Points really be used to stay at CBR, CSR, CR and Poly..??

[mybabesuz]

I'm confused...

Can you really use your points to stay at All the resorts in WDW
except for the Values???
How does that work???
I thought you had to stay at one of the DVC resorts???

What is the yearly out of pocket expenses for 200 points?

This cost only covers your lodging expenses, right???

So if I spend $18000 to get 200 points that I would probably
use for 30 years... That's $600 a year in cost...
It would probably get me a weeks stay...

Sorry just trying to get the basics down...
TIA

 

[marvali]

Yes, you can stay at the other resorts like you asked. The drawback is that there is a booking fee at non-DVC resorts (I think $95) and the points are a little higher in some cases. The biggest benefit to DVC comes when you stay at a DVC resort. There are also a collection of hotels and resorts worldwide, and the Disney Cruise Line where you can use points.

OOP per year depends on two things; where you buy into as your home resort, and if you pay cash for the initial purchase of your points. If you finance, you will have that monthly payment. Also, you will pay fees per point per month as an owner (unless you pay your annual dues in one lump sum payment). This covers the annual costs of taxes on the property and upkeep. These charges vary depending on where you purchase. The highest I think is Vero Beach, due to hurricanes/insurance among other things. There is a link somewhere on this board that tells you how much those annual fees are for each DVC resort.

Yes, the purchase price of the points only gets you the lodging expense, but there are a few other perks such as $100 off on an annual pass.

We purchased 200 points. What that will get you each year depends on where you stay and your travel habits. If you stay exclusively on Sunday thru Thursday nights, it is less points and you can take multiple trips of five nights duration. If you stay weekend nights, not so much. It also depends on when you do most of your travel. Summer months and major holidays (Thanksgiving and Christmas) have much higher points per night than "slower" times of the year like September/October and January/Feb/May.

Hope this helps some.

 

[Monorail Purple&Gold]

Yes, you can stay at non-DVC moderate and deluxe resorts...not the most effective use of points as the values are higher and increase each year. Plus the $95 booking fee (thanks marvali) as well as the fact that points become reservation points, so if a non-DVC ressie is cancelled you cannot convert res. pts. back to DVC points to bank.

200 point maintenance fees would run anywhere from $842/year (SSR) on up to $1208/year (VB) plus monthly note if financed.

 

[chalee94]

Can you really use your points to stay at All the resorts in WDW
except for the Values??? How does that work???

pretty much. (you also can't stay at the WL,BW,YBC or AKL since they have a DVC wing.)

the down side is you pay a $95 reservation fee to stay at a non-DVC hotel plus they charge about twice the points as a DVC studio... so it's a miserable deal financially. if you're going to spend that many pts you can get a 1BR with jacuzzi and full kitchen...

I thought you had to stay at one of the DVC resorts???

you can trade out to many different options. but it's a better deal to use your pts at the DVC resorts.

What is the yearly out of pocket expenses for 200 points?

depends on the home resort you buy into.

upfront costs are steep...$13,000-$14,000 if you buy resale. at least $18,000 or so if you buy direct.

annual dues (maintenance fees) for 200 pts start at $842 for SSR and up to over $1200 for VB.

This cost only covers your lodging expenses, right???

right.

So if I spend $18000 to get 200 points that I would probably
use for 30 years... That's $600 a year in cost...
It would probably get me a weeks stay...

200 pts will get you a 1BR at SSR for a week in early november, for example. BUT it completely depends on which resort you are staying at, and when you are traveling.

(if you can avoid fri-sat night stays, you can extend your pts a lot farther.)

it's best to use the point charts in the top right-hand corner to figure out how many pts you would need for your typical stay.

 

[marvali]

One additional thing. You mention using the points for 30 years. Depending on the contract date and where you purchase, you may have as much as 50 years on your contract (possibly longer if a precedent has been set by extending Old key West). At almost 50 (next year ) I probably won't be going to Disney 50 years from now (although you never know )
but what we saw in making our decision is that one day we can take our grandkids, and also, the contract is like other real estate interests in that it is willable to your family. As we get older but more able to afford it, we could add on additional points and possibly leave all of our children family vacations for years to come. And just maybe they will take those opportunities to remember us and what we did for them.

Of course, I guess it could also give them another reason to be glad when we are gone....