Do points requirements change YTY

[MouseOfCards]

I looked at some 2016 and 2017 points charts for some resorts and they looked to be exactly the same for the 2 years. Do DVC points requirements always stay the same year-to-year? Or do they sometimes change?

 

[MouseOfCards]

I'm talking about the points required per night for each season, not the specific dates (which do show changes).

 

[drusba]

Yes, they can adjust points needed per night other than just the usual annual change due to the change in dates for Easter and Thanksgiving. The rule they must follow is that the total number of points at the resort must remain the same so any increase in points needed for nights in any season must be offset by an equal decrease in points for other nights (and vice versa).

Since 2009, there have actually been a number of changes at WDW. For all WDW resorts there was a decrease in points needed per night on the weekends offset by an increase in points needed for the weekdays. There have also been changes affecting single resorts at WDW during that time: (a) AKV converted a number of savanna view rooms to standard with the result that rooms other than standard saw some increase to offset the decrease in points needed for those converted; (b) the same happened at BLT when some Theme Park view rooms were converted to standard; (c) SSR treehouses were increased year round and other SSR rooms saw a minor decrease to offset that increase; (d) SSR effective 2017 will go to a system where about 60% of the rooms (other than treehouses) will be standard view and 40% preferred with the result that the current points needed per night will change completely with fewer needed for the standard category and more for the preferred; (e) BWV will also have a minor change in 2017 as 2BR preferred views for premier season are rising somewhat to offset the conversion of some rooms from preferred to standard view.

 

[CarolMN]

Generally, yes, they stay the same. The weeks surrounding Easter are always Premier season - that occasionally catches some newbies by surprise. DVC has done a few reallocations (to even out the demand between weekend and weeknights or to reclassify certain rooms from one view category to another), but so far, those have been infrequent.

The total number of points to book every room for every night of the year cannot change, but DVC may reallocate points to account for changing demand patterns. But if the cost for something goes up, the cost for something else must go down such that the net change is zero. I am not aware of any reallocations that changed the dates of the seasons, though, except for the 2 weeks surrounding Easter, mentioned earlier.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

As others have said, it's fairly infrequent. Usually just a few minor adjustments every few years.

 

[luckyman_apd]

This was one of my first questions when purchasing DVC. "Am I going to have to buy MORE points in the future as the points cost per room increases in future years?" The answer is no. The points "typically" stay the same. If it's 19 points for a studio in January, it will almost always be 19 points for that same room in 20 years. As posted above, occasionally points costs are "moved around" in what's called a point reallocation. It has happened in the past and tends to happen every few years to adjust for supply/demand. In the past, weeknights used to cost much fewer points than weekends. DVC then raised points for the weekdays and then lowered them for friday and saturdays. Weekends still cost more, but not at the difference they were in the past. Point allocation are not done across the board, they are done per resort. As stated above, the amount of points to book all the rooms for an entire year CAN NEVER CHANGE. If points cost goes up in the summer, then it will need to be lowered another time to balance it out.

Bay Lake Tower for instance had some rooms that were classified as Theme park view, but were on lower floors and you really did not get a view of the them park. So it cost a higher number of points for a view you weren't getting. So those rooms were reclassified as "Standard View" therefore reducing the number of points required to book those rooms. That left a lot of points unaccounted for so pretty much all room types affected (studio/1br/2br) ended up rising by a point or 2 per night to cover the difference is points lost by reclassifying the room view.

The treehouse villas at Saratoga springs are a 3 bedroom room. They used to cost the exact same number of points per night as a 2 br villa. Demand was so high for them (after all, why not get 3 br for the price of 2) that DVC raised the points for treehouse villas and lowered other rooms in the resort to balance out the difference. People were NOT happy, but that's what they do....they adjust based on demand. This can be good or bad based on your particular vacation preferences/habits.

 

[chalee94]

the total number of pts (including every villa for every night of the year) for each resort is fixed and cannot change.

here's some history for you (for one of the most extreme changes). you can see some of the reallocations in the links below:

https://disneyvacationclub.disney.g...6/dvcresorts/2016-OKW-Pt-Cht-FINAL-121614.pdf

original pt charts from 1994 for OKW (thanks to webmasterdoc).

if you wanted a 1BR at OKW for 7 nights in may 1994, it would have cost 200 pts. if you wanted a 1BR at OKW for 7 nights in may 2016, it would cost 199 pts.

20+ years later and your pts still get you the same value. how's that for no inflation?

OTOH, if you wanted a studio for 5 nights sun-thurs in early december, your 35 pt stay cost in 1994 has now increased by 43% to 50 pts. weeknight stays have taken a hit...but if you just stayed 2 nights on a weekend in early december at OKW, your 34 pt stay in 1994 dropped a bit to 26 pts.

if you typically stay for 7 nights, i doubt you'll see any big changes (although early dec is popular enough that it won't surprise me if they move it to a different season.)

timesharing definitely involves a risk of change. that's true. but for the most part, if new buyers just buy a few extra (5-10%) - that should cover most of the small reallocations...

 

[DebbieB]

When I originally bought DVC in 1999, I planned two trips a year. 6 nights at OKW in a 1 bedroom in May and 6 nights at BWV in a 1 bedroom in early December. Both 6 nights, 1 weekend and 5 weekday. Those stays are 35 points higher today because of the reallocations, 19 at OKW and 16 at BWV. I got hit because of the higher weekday and only one lower weekend night. For other reasons, I'm no longer following that pattern so I've been able to work around it.

 

[MouseOfCards]

the total number of pts (including every villa for every night of the year) for each resort is fixed and cannot change.

here's some history for you (for one of the most extreme changes). you can see some of the reallocations in the links below:

https://disneyvacationclub.disney.g...6/dvcresorts/2016-OKW-Pt-Cht-FINAL-121614.pdf

original pt charts from 1994 for OKW (thanks to webmasterdoc).

if you wanted a 1BR at OKW for 7 nights in may 1994, it would have cost 200 pts. if you wanted a 1BR at OKW for 7 nights in may 2016, it would cost 199 pts.

20+ years later and your pts still get you the same value. how's that for no inflation?

OTOH, if you wanted a studio for 5 nights sun-thurs in early december, your 35 pt stay cost in 1994 has now increased by 43% to 50 pts. weeknight stays have taken a hit...but if you just stayed 2 nights on a weekend in early december at OKW, your 34 pt stay in 1994 dropped a bit to 26 pts.

if you typically stay for 7 nights, i doubt you'll see any big changes (although early dec is popular enough that it won't surprise me if they move it to a different season.)

timesharing definitely involves a risk of change. that's true. but for the most part, if new buyers just buy a few extra (5-10%) - that should cover most of the small reallocations...

Yikes! Weekends used to cost over 2x the cost of weekdays at OKW! Was this true for other resorts as well?

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Yikes! Weekends used to cost over 2x the cost of weekdays at OKW! Was this true for other resorts as well?

Yes, they were much higher at all the resorts.

 

[DebbieB]

Yikes! Weekends used to cost over 2x the cost of weekdays at OKW! Was this true for other resorts as well?

I used to stay at OKW Saturday to Friday, you would see very few cars parked on Saturday night, lots of arrivals on Sunday. Lots checking out on Friday. Haven't stayed there since the reallocation, don't know if it has changed.

 

[drusba]

Yikes! Weekends used to cost over 2x the cost of weekdays at OKW! Was this true for other resorts as well?

It was an interestimg time when the changes were made. From the early 1990's to 2009, the weekend points were always substantially higher. The result was that a large proportion of members always went to WDW with a Sunday arrival date and Friday departure and, in fact, huge numbers purchased just enough points at their home resort to do that. Weekends often never filled completely.

The 2010 point charts were not released until January 23, 2009, more than a month after annual charts were usually released, and only days before those who would be booking early January 2010 could reserve. The 2010 change was met with shock by all those who had only enough points for Sun to Fri trips and the shock was just beginning. Disney can lower or raise points for any given night by no more than 20% per year absent a vote of the full membership. That initial change was at or just under 20% for most nights and rooms.

The second shock came with the point charts released about a year later for 2011. Once again the weekend nights went down and the weekday nights went up, but this time only about 8%. Disney never said a word after releasing the 2010 charts that it was planning to do another weekend to weekday shift with the 2011 charts, despite that it obviously knew it was going to do so, and just dropped it on everyone like the it did the 2010 charts. Result is that over a 2 year period, there was close to a 30% shift of weekend points to weekdays, and many who actually purchased more points after the 2010 charts were released found they had to make another purchase after the 2011 charts came out if they still wanted to go for that Sun-Fri period.

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

Yikes! Weekends used to cost over 2x the cost of weekdays at OKW! Was this true for other resorts as well?

Yes, we did many, many Sunday to Thursday stays when we first joined. So did many others, and Disney noticed too many rooms were sitting empty on Fridays and Saturdays. The reallocation took place over several years, with points shifting from weekends to weeknights.

As many others have said, there generally aren't big changes. However, those who have purchased a contract for the exact number of points they expected their stays to cost have been caught off guard, before.

But the changes aren't always minor, though. Take a look at the 2017 charts for Saratoga Springs, for example. Disney has created booking categories for this resort where there haven't been any in the past. A family who has their heart set on spending a week in a Three-Bedroom Grand Villa in the Congress Park section during the premier season will find that it costs 933 points in 2017, because the villa is now in the Premier Category. In 2016, it would have been 835 points. That's a 98-point increase for the same room in the same season.

 

[rwcmath]

We were so happy when DVC lowered weekend points because we both worked and liked to go away for long weekends. Now we are retired so it does not mean as much to us.

At HHI they even had higher, different points for Friday and Saturday! They were horrid!