Couple of Questions from a Newbie

[buckeyejennifer]

Hi All! We have decided to take the plunge and become members of DVC. I spoke with our guide over the weekend and we got the 'Dreams' book today and are ready to make a commitment. I'm not really looking at this as a "financial" investment, but more of an investment in our family's vacation life. My husband is a workaholic and I love him dearly for his work ethic, but dragging him away for a vacation is a major effort. Knowing that the vacation is sitting there waiting for us year after year (and knowing that we would be 'losing money' by not using our points) will make him stop and take a break.

I am a huge Disney fan and have stayed in many of the WDW resorts over the years. I have loved every one for different reasons. I have not, however, stayed at AKL. Our guide is stearing us in that direction (over Saratoga Springs, which was my other choice--I have very fond memories of the Treehouse Villas as a kid). I have no reason to believe that I won't absolutely love AKV, but it is still an unknown for me at this point. Any advice on that?

My other big question is this: if we buy in now, they are offering 2009 and 2010 points right away. When would all of those points expire? We have already booked and paid for a DCL cruise in November, so we aren't planning on taking another WDW trip in 2010. So I'm just wondering when we have to use those 2009 points? Also, if we buy now, when does the use year typically start? Would it be March, or a later month? I just want to have these questions answered before calling our guide tomorrow.

Thanks in advance. Any other advice or insight is welcome!!

 

[robertdangelo]

The 2009 points can be banked into the 2010 use year and must be used by the end of that use year. ie: with and April UY, the banked 2009 points must be used by 3/31/11. The 2010 points can be banked into 2011 UY if not used in the 2010 use year. I hope this makes sense.
AKV and SSR are big enough that you shouldn't have a problem booking either at 7 months, unless it's a peak season.(especially December)
As often said, Buy where you love to stay. If they will offer a lower minimum, you potentially could get two 100 point contracts, one at AKL and the other at SSR. This way you would have Home booking advantage at both.
This is an investment in quality time with your family... the best we've ever made. Good luck!

 

[Crystal_27]

Please do yourself a favor and research home resorts, and don't let your Guide steer you toward a resort that you don't particularly want. Remember, that the Guides have quotas to meet and are looking toward DVC's bottom line, not your family's happiness (that's *your* job ). The treehouses are very popular and are typically scooped up by SSR owners at the 11 month window. So, if you bought into AKV, your chances are slim in getting a treehouse villa at the 7 month mark for more than a couple nights, especially during the peak seasons. Also, if you are looking at SSR, please also make sure to look at going resale. You can save thousands of dollars by buying resale instead of going through Disney, and often you can find resale contracts offering banked points as well as current points too. In terms of Use Year, if you buy through Disney you can pick whatever UY you want (provided it's after March so you can get 2009 points). I think the rest of your points have been addressed, but if you still have any questions, just post them!

 

[5forDiz]

I think Crystal has given you really excellent advice here especially looking at resale market for SSR. Robert also posted getting 100 points at SSR and 100 points at AKV and that maybe something to consider if you are uncertain about which to choose; with banking &/or borrowing you could have 200 pts EOY or 300 pts every third at each resort, something you may want if you'd like Home Resort advantage at both.

Regarding your Use Year questions : January, May, July & November Not UYs

UYs are February,March,April, June, August, September, October, December

Banking deadline is last day of 8th month of your UY, so March UY banking deadline is October 31st, April UY bank deadline is November 30th, etc.

Most members will advise you to pick a UY where you will not travel during last 3-4 months of that UY because should you need to cancel a trip during last 4 months of UY you will already be beyond your banking deadline so then you will be unable to bank the Current Use Year points used in the reservation AND any banked &/or borrowed points in the reservation would need to be used in a new reservation which takes place before the UY ends so that gives you very little time to do so before UY ends.

Keep in mind that banked &/or borrowed points once committed to a reservation cannot be re-banked or 'put back' into the UY they were borrowed from in event of cancellations.

Good luck on your planning & hope to welcome you home real soon

 

[buckeyejennifer]

Thanks everyone for all the advice! We are now officially DVC members at AKV! I'm very excited. I financed with the plan of paying it off fully within a year. I was surprised at how quick and easy the financing process went. I paid my 10% deposit and closing costs and am now just waiting on my DVC member number and the paperwork.

So, a couple of more questions. When does the paperwork usually arrive and what does the process entail? At what point can I make my first reservation? We got the '09 points and can't use all of them (we are already taking a DCL cruise later this year that is paid in full and we won't have enough points, so we are just sticking with the orginal plan), so we are going to give my brother and his new wife a little fall getaway at the AKV as a special suprise.


A few people PM'd me to offer info and offer to be my referral. Thank you all so much!! I really wish I had known about referrals BEFORE I made my initial contact, but by the time I called them back to seal the deal, it was too late to add a referral (they asked me on my inital contact if anyone had referred me, and I didn't know to about the deal). So sorry!!

Thanks again for the advice! I'm looking forward to diving into these boards for lots more information!

 

[Sandisw]

Thanks everyone for all the advice! We are now officially DVC members at AKV! I'm very excited. I financed with the plan of paying it off fully within a year. I was surprised at how quick and easy the financing process went. I paid my 10% deposit and closing costs and am now just waiting on my DVC member number and the paperwork.

So, a couple of more questions. When does the paperwork usually arrive and what does the process entail? At what point can I make my first reservation? We got the '09 points and can't use all of them (we are already taking a DCL cruise later this year that is paid in full and we won't have enough points, so we are just sticking with the orginal plan), so we are going to give my brother and his new wife a little fall getaway at the AKV as a special suprise.


A few people PM'd me to offer info and offer to be my referral. Thank you all so much!! I really wish I had known about referrals BEFORE I made my initial contact, but by the time I called them back to seal the deal, it was too late to add a referral (they asked me on my inital contact if anyone had referred me, and I didn't know to about the deal). So sorry!!

Thanks again for the advice! I'm looking forward to diving into these boards for lots more information!

Congratulations! You should be in the system already to make your reservation. Your paperwork will probably take a few days to get to you but don't have to wait until you get that to call.

If you are not, give your guide back a call and he/she can let you know. We added on last year and our points were there to make a reservation the very next day!

Enjoy!

 

[ToddyLu]

We purchased points at AKV last June on a Saturday, paperwork arrived 2 days later on Tuesday (we are in Mississippi), we notorized on Wednesday and mailed on Thursday. On the desk at DVC Friday.

Our guide actually put us on the phone with MS and stayed until we had connected with them then bowed out of the coversation. We were going to stay at Pop in Oct and had already booked that trip so MS just replaced it with 2 studios. The resort is terrific. The animals and decor are so relaxing. We do not mind riding the buses and they are very good at picking you up. It is like being in Africa and Florida at the same time....completely takes you away.