Hi. First time poster, but have been getting a lot of useful information from these forums. I'll give some background, but I'm currently considering a direct DVC purchase of 200 Poly points (would likely split into a 150-pt and 50-pt contract) and a 150-pt Riviera contract. Leaning toward December UY, as I think August-November are the least likely times for us to go to DW giving school year starts and hurricane season (we live in PA and will be flying to get to DW). Wanted to get any and all thoughts from other DVC members/users can offer me.
Background: Me (age 43), wife (39), and 2 boys (4 and 6). No more kids. We just got back from our second DW vacation in 9 months. First time, stayed offsite in August - it was hot, but still had fun - kids loved Typhoon Lagoon. This past time, we did 4 nights in the Coronado Springs Gran Destino tower, went to Cocoa Beach for a few days, and then came back and stayed one bonus night in a 1 bedroom Villa at Riviera (new to this - I guess everyone refers to it as RIV
). Got our formal tour from a DVC sales rep at Riviera, and also went to see the Poly Island Tower. Kids love Disney (I know that might not always be the case), my wife is what I would call a Disney adult, and the magic has slowly grown on me to the point where I'm starting to embrace it. Been doing more reading and searching (and obsessing) than I ever imagined as I have learned more and more about DVC membership. I think I've got a pretty good handle on the pros and cons of this process, but I am sure there are things I am missing and need to think about. I know this isn't an investment - more like prepaid vacations where, if you stick with it, you will break even and, if you're lucky, lock in some future vacations at a bit of a discount (although, factoring in the time value of money, that probably isn't really true). I've gotten pretty familiar with a lot of the ins/out of banking and borrowing, renting out points, use years, etc. The idea of annual vacations to DW and the ability to stay in a 1 BR Villa are very appealing (especially after experiencing 4 nights in a Coronado room). I know we'd be committing ourselves to DW vacations for the foreseeable future (with some flexibility to rent out points in years we might opt for something else). I know this doesn't make sense if you finance for any extended period of time - already have my strategy for the credit cards I want to use and paying them off. I think I've got a pretty good handle on this, but I am more than happy to hear anyone tell me I'm wrong. There is a rational, investment minded side of me that says don't do this, you'd be much better off investing the cash and not committing yourself to Disney. Then, there is another part of me that says, this would be something pretty fun and enjoyable for the family to look forward to for years to come that I think would be different - let's say, a little more magic.
So, to get to my thinking on my possible point purchases. We absolutely loved RIV - before kids, my wife and I were big Caribbean all-inclusive folks. RIV reminded us of this a lot. In the absence of resale restrictions on RIV, we'd probably be thinking about buying exclusively there for our first purchase. But, we also toured PIT (I think that's the right one for Poly Island Tower). Really liked it, and can see real value to both the ease of MK access and no resale restrictions (which seem to amount to less immediate depreciation in the value of your points). MK is definitely my wife's favorite resort - I'd probably say Epcot or HS for myself. Kids love it all. By splitting our points 200 at PIT and 150 at RIV, it seems to me like it would give us a lot of flexibility. Seems like we can pretty easily do a 1-week split stay using just a current year point strategy. If we want to to an entire week at one, we could bank and/or borrow for access of up to 600 at PIT and 450 at RIV - there would only be a couple of room categories during Easter/Christmas we couldn't get, but could still get a room at that time if we wanted to (granted, I'm sure, that we're booking as soon as that 11 month window opens up). I suspect most years, we'll be aiming for less busy times. Early December, January/February/March/May (although I know the spring break season is a bit higher), and would consider the occasional summer trip.
I think we're working with a pretty good DVC sales rep - told me upfront that if I lock things in before April 28th, and the incentives are better come April 29th, we can cancel and re-do them. I discussed the possibility of splitting contracts up into smaller 50-pt increments. She dissuaded me from this, and suggested I stick with a 150-pt contract at each, with a 50-pt separate contract at Poly. If we want to pass the 150-pt contracts down to our kids, the extra perks that come with those contracts would likely also pass (although I realize the extra perks are not guaranteed). Since that does have some potential appeal to me long-term, that seems like a smart idea, although I realize there are a lot factors there that amount to a roll of the dice.
I have thought some about whether purchasing a resale contract makes sense, but given how much we like RIV, and given that any resale contracts can't be used there, seems maybe like not the right call for now. After we get into this and we find ourselves wanting more points at RIV or Poly, maybe that is how we could do it. Also, being new to this and knowing that there will be new resorts down the line, I can't say I like the idea of having points I can't use to book those either (which seems like it will likely be the case going forward with new properties).
Ok, apologies for the long post. I really welcome any and all feedback. Trying to digest as much information as I can before I decide to pull the trigger (and, yes, I realize I should probably let the pixie dust wear off before doing this, but here I am).
Thanks in advance.
Background: Me (age 43), wife (39), and 2 boys (4 and 6). No more kids. We just got back from our second DW vacation in 9 months. First time, stayed offsite in August - it was hot, but still had fun - kids loved Typhoon Lagoon. This past time, we did 4 nights in the Coronado Springs Gran Destino tower, went to Cocoa Beach for a few days, and then came back and stayed one bonus night in a 1 bedroom Villa at Riviera (new to this - I guess everyone refers to it as RIV
). Got our formal tour from a DVC sales rep at Riviera, and also went to see the Poly Island Tower. Kids love Disney (I know that might not always be the case), my wife is what I would call a Disney adult, and the magic has slowly grown on me to the point where I'm starting to embrace it. Been doing more reading and searching (and obsessing) than I ever imagined as I have learned more and more about DVC membership. I think I've got a pretty good handle on the pros and cons of this process, but I am sure there are things I am missing and need to think about. I know this isn't an investment - more like prepaid vacations where, if you stick with it, you will break even and, if you're lucky, lock in some future vacations at a bit of a discount (although, factoring in the time value of money, that probably isn't really true). I've gotten pretty familiar with a lot of the ins/out of banking and borrowing, renting out points, use years, etc. The idea of annual vacations to DW and the ability to stay in a 1 BR Villa are very appealing (especially after experiencing 4 nights in a Coronado room). I know we'd be committing ourselves to DW vacations for the foreseeable future (with some flexibility to rent out points in years we might opt for something else). I know this doesn't make sense if you finance for any extended period of time - already have my strategy for the credit cards I want to use and paying them off. I think I've got a pretty good handle on this, but I am more than happy to hear anyone tell me I'm wrong. There is a rational, investment minded side of me that says don't do this, you'd be much better off investing the cash and not committing yourself to Disney. Then, there is another part of me that says, this would be something pretty fun and enjoyable for the family to look forward to for years to come that I think would be different - let's say, a little more magic.So, to get to my thinking on my possible point purchases. We absolutely loved RIV - before kids, my wife and I were big Caribbean all-inclusive folks. RIV reminded us of this a lot. In the absence of resale restrictions on RIV, we'd probably be thinking about buying exclusively there for our first purchase. But, we also toured PIT (I think that's the right one for Poly Island Tower). Really liked it, and can see real value to both the ease of MK access and no resale restrictions (which seem to amount to less immediate depreciation in the value of your points). MK is definitely my wife's favorite resort - I'd probably say Epcot or HS for myself. Kids love it all. By splitting our points 200 at PIT and 150 at RIV, it seems to me like it would give us a lot of flexibility. Seems like we can pretty easily do a 1-week split stay using just a current year point strategy. If we want to to an entire week at one, we could bank and/or borrow for access of up to 600 at PIT and 450 at RIV - there would only be a couple of room categories during Easter/Christmas we couldn't get, but could still get a room at that time if we wanted to (granted, I'm sure, that we're booking as soon as that 11 month window opens up). I suspect most years, we'll be aiming for less busy times. Early December, January/February/March/May (although I know the spring break season is a bit higher), and would consider the occasional summer trip.
I think we're working with a pretty good DVC sales rep - told me upfront that if I lock things in before April 28th, and the incentives are better come April 29th, we can cancel and re-do them. I discussed the possibility of splitting contracts up into smaller 50-pt increments. She dissuaded me from this, and suggested I stick with a 150-pt contract at each, with a 50-pt separate contract at Poly. If we want to pass the 150-pt contracts down to our kids, the extra perks that come with those contracts would likely also pass (although I realize the extra perks are not guaranteed). Since that does have some potential appeal to me long-term, that seems like a smart idea, although I realize there are a lot factors there that amount to a roll of the dice.
I have thought some about whether purchasing a resale contract makes sense, but given how much we like RIV, and given that any resale contracts can't be used there, seems maybe like not the right call for now. After we get into this and we find ourselves wanting more points at RIV or Poly, maybe that is how we could do it. Also, being new to this and knowing that there will be new resorts down the line, I can't say I like the idea of having points I can't use to book those either (which seems like it will likely be the case going forward with new properties).
Ok, apologies for the long post. I really welcome any and all feedback. Trying to digest as much information as I can before I decide to pull the trigger (and, yes, I realize I should probably let the pixie dust wear off before doing this, but here I am).
Thanks in advance.
