Did you guys catch the new DVC announcement?

[Saxton]

You all are so much help!

However everytime you answer i have another question.

So i get now I would really want all my points one place. Now what if (for example) I only get 200 a year and want the grand villa at Bay lake? It is over 750 points, so even if i use my points for 3 years i will not have enough. So do i just pay the difference or do I not even consider getting it? And if I can get it can I book it still 11 months in advance?

I only go in their slow season because that is also my slow season. Summers are out of the question as is holidays.

Well, you have a couple options. I haven't looked at the point charts for BLT yet but you might want to look for the time frame with the lowest points. Another possibility is to take off one day - weekends are the highest points so you might find that shortening your vacation by 1 day could work for you. And yes, if you own at BLT then you could book a grand villa there at the 11 month window. As for paying cash, well a grand villa at OKW ranges between $1170 and $1645 per night (not sure what BLT will be) ... but if you play around with your dates and maybe cut off one weekend day you could probably do it without spending the cash.

 

[padalyn]

Ah ha! Saxton and padalyn have confirmed what I thought about booking with points from different resorts. Useful info to have!

IF we ran across a resale contract of 50 points or less for a great price we might buy it, just to bump up our total points. (But not at HH because the dues are so high it outpaces the difference in point cost in just a few years.) It seems to me that SSR almost ALWAYS has rooms available, so if we had points on a small contract I feel pretty confident we could book a studio at SSR at the 7 month mark. We might have other choices, too, but almost certainly SSR.

You really don't need points at any resort to book there - all are open at the 7 month window. I do not own at Wilderness, but stay there regularly. The same is true for OKW. The advantage of owning at a resort is that you can use the 11 month window, but as I have said ALL the reservation points have to be at that resort. SO if you own 50 points at SSR, that will only get you a couple of nights at the 11 month window.

You all are so much help!

However everytime you answer i have another question.

So i get now I would really want all my points one place. Now what if (for example) I only get 200 a year and want the grand villa at Bay lake? It is over 750 points, so even if i use my points for 3 years i will not have enough. So do i just pay the difference or do I not even consider getting it? And if I can get it can I book it still 11 months in advance?

I only go in their slow season because that is also my slow season. Summers are out of the question as is holidays.

I am not sure about mixing cash and points, as I have never done it. I do know that to book the cruise mixing points and cash one person has to pay the full value with points. I was on the phone today with DVC/DCL rep and asked if I could do a single supplement cruise by using points for one full person and cash for the supplement - nope. gotta use all points for one person, second person in the room can pay cash. The hotel/resort thing is most likely different.

Please tour all the resorts and don't "lock" yourself into one specifically because you have always stayed at that type or location. I was never really a fan of OKW, I tend to get lost in there !!

However, since I have stayed there a couple of times I realize some of the benefits of that resort. When I do take the bus - it is direct to what ever park I pick - not a long loop. Also, the rooms are a LOT larger for the 1,2 and villas. I am talking a couple of hundred square feet larger!

Now, the disadvantage of OKW studios - no couch! There are 2 beds, which is nice if you are traveling with a child, but solo??? I prefer the couch. That is were SSR comes in. Short walk to car or bus, direct line to park, boat to downtown, and a couch!

So, each resort has it's own appeal. You do not have to stay where you own. If that were the case I would never be in Orlando! My first contract is Hilton Head...I have never been!!

Also, don't forget exchanges - I was looking into going to Las Vegas this fall - with Interval International I could book a week at a 1 bedroom condo on the strip for 150 points!!! This is amazing considering the cheapest hotel room I could find was around 90.00 per night and this was about a mile off the strip. (yea, there are specials, but they never match my schedule).


Keep asking questions - this is how you will be sure you are making the correct decision for you and yours

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I was thinking on the small contract (no matter which resort is the "home") we could always book SSR at the 7 month window. We just bought our DVC in May so I don't have a lot of experience with what's available at 7 mos. vs. 11 mos. It seems to me that SSR is never full, so we would always be safe planning to book there at 7 mos. with points from whatever resort.

Our current problem is that we keep running out of points. When we bought in we got 2007 points with a December use year. We used those in August. Our 2008 points are all being used for next August, along with some borrowed ones from '09. We are hoping to rent points from a friend for next December so we can use the rest of our '09 points and all of our '10 points in July/August of '10 to bring my mom. So then we won't have any points until December of 2011.

 

[hematite153]

I was thinking on the small contract (no matter which resort is the "home") we could always book SSR at the 7 month window. We just bought our DVC in May so I don't have a lot of experience with what's available at 7 mos. vs. 11 mos. It seems to me that SSR is never full, so we would always be safe planning to book there at 7 mos. with points from whatever resort.

People say that a LOT about SSR, but, it does depend a lot on season. Every new DVC resort seems to go through a period of excitement and a period of low interest before bookings level out. I think that SSR is starting to reach the point where people are becoming aware of its strengths. It's certainly easier to get than AKV at this point, but, once Kidani is open I doubt this will be true. We had to waitlist for SSR 2 years ago, but, we'd successfully gotten BCV for the same dates.

If you are going to be really attached to a specific resort, I'd recommend buying there. Also, if you wouldn't want to stay at a specific resort then I wouldn't recommend buying there.

But, my general experience is that there are usually several options still available at 7 months as long as you are willing to be a little flexible.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

It was interesting to see what was available this year.
We had already booked our trip for August before we bought our DVC. We were originally planning to just spend 16 nights in a room at AKL. When we bought our DVC we cancelled some of our hotel nights and switched them to "points" nights. Our guide called member services to help us get our ressies. There were some nights open at OKW, some at AKV, and some at SSR. We ended up booking some at AKV, waitlisting some at AKV, and booking some at SSR. In the end we had 4 consecutive nights at AKV even though we booked less than 90 days out. We stayed 7 nights at SSR, 6 on points and one on cash. They just link the cash night to your points nights - very easy.

 

[PghLybrt]

Hi, I am back!! ( Yinz all created this monster )


Ok so i changed around my flights and now i am going down for 3 days before I head down to Miami for the family vacation!

So my question now..... if i buy whan i go down how soon do my points start?

 

[Saxton]

Hi, I am back!! ( Yinz all created this monster )


Ok so i changed around my flights and now i am going down for 3 days before I head down to Miami for the family vacation!

So my question now..... if i buy whan i go down how soon do my points start?

Yes. If you're buying direct from Disney then your 'use year' will start at that time. The use year is different from the calendar year. My use year is April so each April I receive my allotment of points and they're good until the end of the following March (unless I bank them). If you buy a resale contract you'll have to look at the existing use year and the points that are available.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

We bought in May of this year, but our use year is December. Since our first batch of points were 2007 points we were able to use them immediately.

There are some squirelly things about buying into a property that isn't open yet. We own in Jambo at AKV, which is finished. People who bought in Kidani got points for immediate use at SSR, but the rest of their points were not valid at all, for any resort, until May of '09 when Phase I of Kidani opens. I would imagine BLT will be like that, too. Make sure you ask your guide when your points will be available and if there are restrictions on where you can use them prior to BLT opening.

 

[padalyn]

We bought in May of this year, but our use year is December. Since our first batch of points were 2007 points we were able to use them immediately.

There are some squirelly things about buying into a property that isn't open yet. We own in Jambo at AKV, which is finished. People who bought in Kidani got points for immediate use at SSR, but the rest of their points were not valid at all, for any resort, until May of '09 when Phase I of Kidani opens. I would imagine BLT will be like that, too. Make you you ask your guide when your points will be available and if there are restrictions on where you can use them prior to BLT opening.

wow...that is just wrong - were they PAYING????? or did the payments get deferred as well? If I were paying I would demand the use of the points. wow... I have never bought at a resort not yet open, I have no experience with that one....wow. I am just stuck on that....can't use the points - that blows....

 

[padalyn]

going back to the original post for a minute here - did anyone book DCL for 2010 cruises? If you are doing the mini repo and first baltic I started a thread:

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?p=28220517&posted=1#post28220517

see you there!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

wow...that is just wrong - were they PAYING????? or did the payments get deferred as well? If I were paying I would demand the use of the points. wow... I have never bought at a resort not yet open, I have no experience with that one....wow. I am just stuck on that....can't use the points - that blows....

That's a good question. I don't know all of the details because our purchase wasn't structured that way, but I know there is some legal thing where you can't use the points until the property where you own is open for business. They might defer the dues, but I am pretty sure the mortgage payments start immediately (if you finance).

 

[padalyn]

That's a good question. I don't know all of the details because our purchase wasn't structured that way, but I know there is some legal thing where you can't use the points until the property where you own is open for business. They might defer the dues, but I am pretty sure the mortgage payments start immediately (if you finance).

ouch - still stuck on that one...I understand the legality of the not being able to reside on the titled deed so the points can 't be used...but to have to pay the mortgage BEFORE the property is available....I would not be a happy camper. That is for sure.

 

[hematite153]

ouch - still stuck on that one...I understand the legality of the not being able to reside on the titled deed so the points can 't be used...but to have to pay the mortgage BEFORE the property is available....I would not be a happy camper. That is for sure.

I think that some people chose to put their name on a waitlist so that they would purchase after Kidani was open and the points were available.

Also, I think that if you looked at the number of developer points people got for use at SSR, they came out fine point-wise, just had more restrictions on their first usage than preferred.