Considering joining DVC...feeling overwhelmed!

[shawnjennym]

My husband and I went to the "info meeting" while at Disney and are considering joining DVC. After reading through a lot of the posts here, I am feeling a little overwhelmed.

I have many questions...here are the top few questions...

Is starting at 160 points actually enought to go on an annual vacation? Is this a good amount to start with?

If we start with 160 points at Bay Lake Tower, is it easy to add additional points later? It seemed from some of the points that it might be difficult to do.

If we do get additional points later, is there any benefit to buying them from different resorts?

Are the RCI resorts hard to get reservations at? We are from Minnesota and there is only one in close driving distance to us (we have 3 young kids).

I realize this is a lot of questions...the more I read...the more overwhelmed I get.

Everyone on the site seems like such experts, I worry that us newbies may have a hard time getting in to any good resorts.

Thanks...

 

[christa112]

I can understand your feelings. It is definately overwhelming. We are also considering buying in, which we are pretty much sold on it. I am hoping by June to be part the DVC.

As for the 160 points being enough, it is going to depend on the size of the room and when you are staying, a Studio takes less points than a 1 bedroom etc.

Also, there are certain times of the year that cost more points than other. Jan, Sept & the beginning of Dec are considered Value Season and they take up less points unlike Premier Season which uses the most points.

Being a family of 5 my family would need to book at least a one bedroom, so no 160 points would not be enough at least not a the BLT. Also different resorts have different room point rates.

But at this time, I believe you can only buy into BLT, AKL and SSR. I know once you are a member you can add on to different resorts, but I am not that knowledgable about this yet.

My recommendations if keep reading these boards. Everyone is so helpful and will answer as many questions that you have.

I am assuming you know there are resales too that you can purchase through. We are still debating on if we are buying directly through Disney or through a resale. I guess it is all going to depend on what the incentives are through the DVC.

I hope this info helps.

 

[Quilter007]

Depending on the time of year 160 points would work in a studio for a family of four. But if you are like us and likely to have a Grandma in tow, then you'd want a 1 bedroom at a newer DVC that sleeps five or a 2 bedroom as the kids get bigger & no longer think the pull-out sofa is fun. I don't know how easy it is to add on, but the incentives are better at higher points -- so we decided to go for 220 @ VGC. Another thing you might think about -- I get tons of hotel points from business travel, so when we go next, we'll spend a couple days doing the Space Center & staying at a non-Disney hotel at the beach and then go to DVC -- that means I can get a bigger room/better view/etc. Magical Express doesn't work, but I've also got car rental points, so it's OK.

 

[christa112]

Car rental points?

Depending on the time of year 160 points would work in a studio for a family of four. But if you are like us and likely to have a Grandma in tow, then you'd want a 1 bedroom at a newer DVC that sleeps five or a 2 bedroom as the kids get bigger & no longer think the pull-out sofa is fun. I don't know how easy it is to add on, but the incentives are better at higher points -- so we decided to go for 220 @ VGC. Another thing you might think about -- I get tons of hotel points from business travel, so when we go next, we'll spend a couple days doing the Space Center & staying at a non-Disney hotel at the beach and then go to DVC -- that means I can get a bigger room/better view/etc. Magical Express doesn't work, but I've also got car rental points, so it's OK.

 

[ChelleinNC]

Welcome to the DIS!

My husband and I went to the "info meeting" while at Disney and are considering joining DVC. After reading through a lot of the posts here, I am feeling a little overwhelmed.

I have many questions...here are the top few questions...

Is starting at 160 points actually enought to go on an annual vacation? Is this a good amount to start with?

It depends on what type of room you want and when you want to travel. For us, it wasn't enough points. Even though we're a family of 4 we knew we wanted at least a 1BR, but we actually prefer the 2BR. We bought 250 pts so that we can take a 1 week trip in a 2BR during the summer or 2 shorter trips in a 1BR.

If we start with 160 points at Bay Lake Tower, is it easy to add additional points later? It seemed from some of the points that it might be difficult to do.

If we do get additional points later, is there any benefit to buying them from different resorts?

Where do you want to stay most often? That's where you want to buy your points. You can buy points for any of the resorts from Disney, but some will take waiting for. Additional points can be bought at any time. Only difficulty will be matching use year (if that's a concern). Advantages to buying a different resort is that you could make 11mth reservations at that resort as well.

Are the RCI resorts hard to get reservations at? We are from Minnesota and there is only one in close driving distance to us (we have 3 young kids).

I haven't made any RCI reservations so I can't comment on that, other than to say that those resorts and options do change so I wouldn't make a decision on DVC based on trade outs.

I realize this is a lot of questions...the more I read...the more overwhelmed I get.

Everyone on the site seems like such experts, I worry that us newbies may have a hard time getting in to any good resorts.

Thanks...

Sometimes these boards are wonderful and other times I think they scare people away. Don't worry about wether you'll be able to stay at a "good" resort because of the "experts" here on the DIS. Plenty of DVC owners have never heard of the DIS and they enjoy their DVC trips as much as the rest of us

The most important thing that I'd say is: Buy where you want to stay most often & buy enough points for the type of villa that you'll want/need --sounds like you're a family of 5, you'll need at least a 1BR that holds 5 (not all do) or if a child is under 3, you could get away with a regular 1BR or studio for a little while, but the child will be older before you know it.
Check out the DVC Point charts & calendar to see how many points you'll want/need based on when you want to travel.

 

[redrosesix]

I started out this week convinced we'd be buying into AKV, but after looking at all the other TS prices out there (some as low as $1) we're planning on doing it in 2 stages. Buy another TS first and then buy into AKV in time for our 2011 trip.

Part of the problem is that we absolutely have to travel on certain dates in Feb. and we're already past the 11 month window. If we save up to get a resale, by the time it passes ROFR, we'll be past the 7 month window.

It's probably better this way -- by 2011, we'll have 2 weeks in Orlando, both of them paying just MFs.

Just happy I spent all the time I did on the research. I've probably saved us thousands of dollars. A week ago, I didn't even know about resales.

 

[nunzia]

I know it can be very confusing, but just keep reading here and pouring over the Dreams book and it will start to click. Just try to think up different scenarios of how you might want to vacation and go from there. Just a note..it is easier to resale smaller contracts if that time comes, than large contracts, so if you want more than 160 you might want to have the additioonal points in a smaller additional contract. We split our VGC points into 2 contracts so just in case we want to have fewer points one day (unlikely, but still) we can sell one and still have one large enough for short studio visits.
Best of luck! The sqeamish butterfly feelings go away once it's a done deal.

 

[shawnjennym]

Thanks to everyone.

If it is not to forward to ask....

As I read all these posts and look at the vacation histories of people and the upcoming vacations, it leaves me wondering:

How many points do people have? At what increments did you purchase them? What type of vacations do you typically go on?

Again, I don't want to pry, I am just wondering how this actually works for people. We have 5 people in our family, kids are 6, 4 and 2.

Jenny

 

[crisi]

We are from Minnesota as well and have a small number of points (150 - the old limit). We tend to only go to Disney every other year - having 300 points to stay in a two bedroom for a week over the October school break. On off years we do something that doesn't use points.

I wouldn't use my Disney points regularly anywhere but Disney - there are cheaper timeshares to own for outside of Disney travel - and I prefer to have the flexibility of no timeshare and cash. Disney is an expensive timeshare for doing anything other than staying at Disney.

 

[Cmbar]

Thanks to everyone.

If it is not to forward to ask....

As I read all these posts and look at the vacation histories of people and the upcoming vacations, it leaves me wondering:

How many points do people have? At what increments did you purchase them? What type of vacations do you typically go on?

Again, I don't want to pry, I am just wondering how this actually works for people. We have 5 people in our family, kids are 6, 4 and 2.

Jenny

Hi there,


It is overwhelming and we are in the process right now of purchasing. I would ask you this...

How many times do you plan on going to Disney. Is it every year, or every other year? If not, this may not be the timeshare for you.

Ok if you go every year, when can you travel? The kids will get older, do you have to follow their school schedules? This will determine how many points you will need.

Since you are already a family of five, you will need a one bedroom minimum. You can book five in a one bedroom in the other resorts besides BLT and AKV but you have to bring the bedding. Lots of people bring Aero mattres for the fifth child.

BLT and AKV both will now have one bedrooms with two bathrooms. Many will say this is too small, but I suspect for some families this will be just fine. Only you can determine that.

IF you like AKV, then they have better and lower points to be able to maximize a 160 point contract. I woul suggest if you can swing it to buy 170. Because this makes it easier to book a 5 day (sun-thu) for a 1 bedroom. Seems this is the magic number for that category. But keep in mind you can always bank an borrow for your different years.

So say you need 170 for a trip in 2010, then you can just borrow 10 from the next year. Then either adjust your stay by picking a cheaper resort the next year or just borrow again from the next year. It can seem daunting, but it can easily by done.

Good luck, I know it is difficult, the good news is you don't HAVE to do anything. Check out the resales. IF you like AKV and you are not in a rush, you can buy that on the resale market. This will always allow you to book a 1 bedroom with two baths at the 11 month priority. You will save some money over buying with Disney, but you will be getting a great resort!

 

[jamie&Greg]

Thanks to everyone.

If it is not to forward to ask....

As I read all these posts and look at the vacation histories of people and the upcoming vacations, it leaves me wondering:

How many points do people have? At what increments did you purchase them? What type of vacations do you typically go on?

Again, I don't want to pry, I am just wondering how this actually works for people. We have 5 people in our family, kids are 6, 4 and 2.

Jenny

Hi! Yes this is an overwhelming project!! But we could not be happier! For us it is a little diffrent. We live in Fl and can drive (2.5 hr) to the world. We first bought 150 points with the thought of taking 1 - 3 day trip every quater in a studio. We are a family of 3. After our second trip and first trip in a one bedroom we wanted more points. We just closed on a second 100 point contract!! We went the resale route and bought WL for both contracts!! That is our FAVE! Next we will try for BCV or AKL. Good luck!

 

[shortypots]

We decided on a trip to DW last May that it would be wonderful to provide a wonderful location for our family to go every other year. So we bought 300 pts at AKV thinking we would do a couple of 2bds in Oct or mix it up with a 2bd and 3 studios. But we actually ended up banking our 2008 pts and now are trying a Grand Villa for our entire family (11 of us) in April next year.

However, once we returned from that same trip where we purchased AKV, we decided we loved Disney so much on our recent trips that we wanted some just for us, so we bought 150 VWL points, so now we have 450 pts total.

I still question whether or not it is enough

 

[shortypots]

double post, sorry

 

[Ivette1980]

so u purchased through resales at $1 p/pt? wow