dvc beginner questions

[claytonj]

I know really nothing about the DVC other then what i read on the website. Can you guys tell me a little bit more about it?

i know i saw the one time fee, but how much is it per year? and how many points/vacations do you usually get?

do the points only pay for the room or do they cover a trip?

 

[Donald is #1]

OK, let's see where I can start.

When you buy into DVC, you buy a certain number of points at a particular resort. You will pay a one time cost for the points (anywhere from about $70 per point resale for OKW, to $100+ dollars for direct from Disney for BLT, AKV, etc). In addition, you will have to pay an annual maintenance fee each year based upon the number of points that you own.

You are buying points that are used to reserve your room at one of the resorts. The cost of travel, food, park tickets, souvenirs, etc is all extra.

There are charts for each resort and villa size that indicates the points required for each room size for each time of the year. You can use your points anyway that you want with some limitations.

Let's say that you buy 300 points at AKV. This year, maybe you decide to get a 1 bedroom. For this example (I'm not looking at a point chart right now), let's say that you want to stay 1 week and that costs 300 points for the week that you want. OK, you book the 1 bedroom. Then, maybe next year you decide that you want to stay longer. So next year you book a studio for 2 weeks and that also costs 300 points. So you book that.

The way to figure out how many points to get is to figure out which resort that you want. Then figure out what time(s) of you want to travel and the accomodation size that you want. Now look at the points chart for that resort and figure out the number of points needed. If you plan to go every year, buy that many points with a few extra in case the points values are adjusted. If you want to go every 2 years, then buy 1/2 that many points.

 

[claytonj]

im still a little confused. it says on their site its 17920 up front, and then a yearly fee.

how many pts does the 17920 get you? and roughly how much are the yearly fees?

 

[christa112]

For a new members the lowest points you can purchase is 160 that would be the 17,000 price you see. I believe the annual fee is around $4.00 per point.

There are some current incentives going which give you discounts off certain amount of points being purchased. I will find the post and pm it to you.

 

[Sandisw]

im still a little confused. it says on their site its 17920 up front, and then a yearly fee.

how many pts does the 17920 get you? and roughly how much are the yearly fees?

New members must buy at least 160 points. That figure is based on the 160 points and assumes you pay the full $112./ppt for the resorts Disney is selling--BLT, AKV, and SSR.

There are incentives currently being given that reduce that cost. If you have the name of a current DVC member, you can get them for less. If you go to dvcnews.com, there is a list of all the current incentives. For example, you can get BLT for $98.00 per point, for a total of $15,680.

You would then pay yearly MF's. BLT currently is $3.67 per point, so add on another $600.00 per year for those (and they will go up--most resorts have averaged 3 - 5% yearly increases).

Disney does have financing available, but the rates are high--10.75% or 14.25% (with direct debit).

If you are interested in AKV or SSR, especially SSR, it is much cheaper to buy in through resale and not go through Disney direct. If you are interested in BLT, then buying direct is the best option (there have been a few resales but they have been more expensive then direct).

Good luck!

 

[Donald is #1]

im still a little confused. it says on their site its 17920 up front, and then a yearly fee.

how many pts does the 17920 get you? and roughly how much are the yearly fees?

Ok, those would most likely be BLT points. So in this case, it is for 160 points at $112 per point. Since this is your first purchase, there will also be a closing fee for somewhere between $200 and $400 (sorry but I don't remember how much I paid). Then the maintenance fees are for the most part in the $4-$5 per point range per year.
I'll look around to see if I can find a post with the current maintenance fees.

DVCNews.com has a nice section for people learning about DVC.
DVC for Beginners

 

[magicaldisney]

If you have any hesitation in purchasing DVC, I would recommend renting points from an owner for your next trip. Check things out and see if you like what you see.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Given the nature of your questions, I would say you need to spend a bit of time reading all the stickey threads on the three DVC boards here, and familiarize yourself a bit and then come back and ask some specifics of what you don't understand. It's way too complex to give a general overview that would do the topic justice. You need to do a little homework first.

There are 7 DVC resorts at Disney World, one at DisneyLand, and two others off site at Hilton Head and Vero beach. This is Disney's version of a timeshare, so you might also want to familiarize yourself with timeshare ownership in general as well.

The basics are that you decide what resort you want to call "home" and then look at the point charts and decide from there how many "points" you are likely to need to reserve the size villa that meets your needs. If you plan to go every year (think of this as pre-paid vacation accommodations), you choose the number of points you will need for a 1,2 or 3 bedroom villa and purchase that number of points. If you plan to only travel every other year, you can purchase half that number and bank and borrow to have the right total. As with most timeshares, there are maintenance fees to keep up the properties, and pay taxes etc. Those are based on the number of "points" you own and will vary by resort. Some resorts have significantly higher maintenance fees than others, so you need to know that history as well for each resort.

 

[whitfamily]

How long does the paperwork process take to get your financing done?

 

[Crystal_27]

How long does the paperwork process take to get your financing done?

If you are buying at Disney, you will spend about 2-3 hours from the start of the tour through the ice cream social (the actual application/signing process takes about 30-45 minutes). However, if you buy while at Disney, you will have a temporary DVC membership card (good for annual passes, discounts, etc.) and you can immediately make a reservation using your points. If you close through the mail, DVC will confirm your contract terms, FedEx the documents to you and, a day or two after you sign and send them back, you will be in the DVC system and able to make reservations!! It's that easy!! Your first payment is usually deferred 2 months (or so) just to ensure that the deed is recorded and everything is good to go.

 

[whitfamily]

Cool!

 

[kimberh]

One thing I would like to add is: Buy Where You Would Really Like To Stay The Most! Not what is the cheapest.

 

[crisi]

One thing I would like to add is: Buy Where You Would Really Like To Stay The Most! Not what is the cheapest.

AND be aware that "sold out" resorts are available either through resale (which can be a complicated thing to understand) or from Disney - although you may have to press Disney. So if you LOVE Beach Club, you should probably buy your points there.

 

[M5ward]

This website has a lot of information about DVC.
http://dvcnews.com

 

[whitfamily]

AND be aware that "sold out" resorts are available either through resale (which can be a complicated thing to understand) or from Disney - although you may have to press Disney. So if you LOVE Beach Club, you should probably buy your points there.

We purchased AKV recently and found out that if we req'd Jamba House (the older section) we could actually get '08 points as well as '09 points. Yet we still get the booking advantage for all of AKV as it is view as one resort. It was another hidden incentive. So as mentioned above....definitely ask your guide if there are any points available for purchase at your preferred resort.

Also, as we booked today for the first time...your home resort DOES matter a great deal!

One thing my DH realized when researching the whole DVC thing is that getting a DVC referral help knock off an additional amount per point ($8 for us). We or any other number of folks on here would be glad to refer you.

Good luck in your decision making!